Background: Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of developing several types of cancer in humans; however, its effect on the development of kidney cancer is not uniform.
Objective: To investigate the association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components and the risk of developing kidney cancer.
Methods: We conducted a cohort-based case-control study. The case group included 217 patients with new kidney cancer in the Kailuan cohort. A total of 868 subjects who were matched for age and sex with those in the case group age (Ā± 1 year) at 1:4 as the control group were selected from baseline survey participants without malignant tumours at the same time as the case group. Biennial baseline survey data of the cases and controls were collected, and the baseline data nearest to the onset time of cases were used for statistical analyses. Logistic proportional risk regression models were used to analyse the association between MetS and its components and the risk of developing kidney cancer.
Results: The proportion of MetS patients in the case group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P< 0.01). The risk of developing kidney cancer was significantly higher in the MetS group than in the non-MetS group [odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval, CI) = 1.63 (1.20-2.21)], and the risk of kidney cancer increased as the number of MetS components increased compared with subjects without any MetS components (pš”šššš< 0.01). Elevated blood pressure and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were associated with the risk of kidney cancer [OR (95% CI) = 1.49 (1.02-2.17) and 1.55 (1.13-2.13), respectively].
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the risk of developing kidney cancer is correlated with MetS.
Keywords: Kailuan Study; Kidney cancer; case-control study; metabolic syndrome.