Gout drugs use and risk of cancer: A case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: Firm conclusion about whether short and long-term gout medications use has an impact on cancer risk remain inconclusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between gout drugs use and risk of cancer.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective longitudinal population-based case-control study in Taiwan. Cases were identified all patients who were aged 20years or above, and had a first time diagnosis of cancers for the period between 2001 and 2011. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by using conditional logistic regression.

RESULTS: We examined 601,733 cases and 2,406,932 matched controls. The adjusted odd ratio for any gout drugs use and overall cancer risk was 1.007 (95% CI: 0.994-1.020). There was a significant risk of leukemia (AOR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.20-1.50), endometrial cancer (AOR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.12-1.57), non-Hodgkin's (AOR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.13-1.35), female breast cancer (AOR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.13-1.29), cervical cancer (AOR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.07-1.37). However, no association was observed in male group (AOR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.95-0.98) but female showed a significantly increased risk of cancer at any site (AOR: 1.107, 95% CI: 1.08-1.13).

CONCLUSION: In summary, our results suggest that gout drugs increase risk of the most common cancers, particularly in leukemia, non-Hodgkin's, endometrial, breast and cervical cancer.