Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Sleep Apnea Linked With Increased Risk of Cancer Death

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120904100149.htm

ScienceDaily (Sep. 4, 2012) — Sleep apnea severity has been associated with increased cancer mortality in a new study.

The research, which will be presented today (Tuesday 4 September 2012) at the European Respiratory Society's (ERS) Annual Congress in Vienna, adds to evidence presented earlier this year highlighting a link between severe sleep apnea and cancer.

Two further studies presented at the ERS Congress, also show evidence suggesting an increase in cancer incidence among sleep apnea patients and an association between the spread of cancer and sleep apnea.

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The results showed that people with sleep apnea who spent more than 14% of their sleep with levels of oxygen saturation below 90% (usually severe sleep apnea patients) had approximately double the relative risk of death due to cancer (odds ratio 1.94), than people without sleep apnea. The results showed that this association was even higher in men and younger people.

People with sleep apnea can be treated using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, which generates a stream of air to keep the upper airways open during sleep. In the first study, patients who were not using this device consistently had an increased relative risk (odds ratio 2.56) of death from cancer.

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Our research has only found an association between these disorders but this does not mean that sleep apnea causes cancer.

Similar results were also found in the second study which showed an increase in all-type cancer incidence in people with severe sleep apnea. The link was present even when factors such as age, sex, weight and other comorbidities of participants, were controlled for.

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In a third study, researchers used a mouse model of skin cancer (melanoma) to investigate tumour spread (metastasis) and whether this was associated with sleep apnea.

The results showed that the spread of cancer was more abundant in mice that had been subjected to intermittent hypoxic air, with low levels of oxygen as in sleep apnea, than those who breathed normal air during the experiment.

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