No Incidence of Liver Cancer Was Observed in A Retrospective Study of Patients with Aristolochic Acid Nephropathy

Abstract

Objective: To assess the risk of aristolochic acid (AA)-associated cancer in patients with AA nephropathy (AAN).

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on patients diagnosed with AAN at Peking University First Hospital from January 1997 to December 2014. Long-term surveillance and follow-up data were analyzed to investigate the influence of different factors on the prevalence of cancer. The primary endpoint was the incidence of liver cancer, and the secondary endpoint was the incidence of urinary cancer during 1 year after taking AA-containing medication to 2014.

Results: A total of 337 patients diagnosed with AAN were included in this study. From the initiation of taking AA to the termination of follow-up, 39 patients were diagnosed with cancer. No cases of liver cancer were observed throughout the entire follow-up period, with urinary cancer being the predominant type (34/39, 87.17%). Logistic regression analysis showed that age, follow-up period, and diabetes were potential risk factors, however, the dosage of the drug was not significantly associated with urinary cancer.

Conclusions: No cases of liver cancer were observed at the end of follow-up. However, a high prevalence of urinary cancer was observed in AAN patients. Establishing a direct causality between AA and HCC is challenging.

Keywords: aristolochic acid; drug safety; hepatocellular carcinoma; retrospective study; urinary cancer.