Cancer and Multiple Sclerosis: A Mixed Story

A cancer diagnosis has hit very close to home in recent months. It’s likely that cancer has also struck close to most of those reading these words.

Current figures from the National Cancer Institute show that better than two out of every five Americans will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetime.

Not all cancers are, of course, terminal, and treatments advance at a rather steady pace. Still, “the C word” sends shivers down most of the spines that I know.

Could Having MS Raise Our Risk of Cancer?

When one has a medical condition like multiple sclerosis (MS), which requires multiple medications and numerous scans and affects our abilities to take the lifestyle steps that can help prevent some cancers, it’s natural to wonder whether it may leave us with a higher risk of developing cancer.

A number of different styles of studies have looked at this question, and the answers they’ve arrived at are quite mixed.

One meta-analysis shows a lower risk of cancer generally in people who live with multiple sclerosis.

This analysis seems to be backed up by a study using data from the United Kingdom that found that people with MS were no more likely to be diagnosed with cancer than controls. As we age, however, people with MS receive a greater number of cancer diagnoses than individuals without MS.

It’s getting confusing, isn’t it?

Could MS Influence Some Cancers but Not Others?

A study looking at the French population showed a 6 percent overall increase in cancer diagnosis among MS patients. But even this study had mixed results.

Researchers found lower prevalence of prostate, colorectal, and breast cancers in MS patients while finding an elevated risk for bladder, brain, and cervical cancers.

An ever deeper look into this French study reveals that higher bladder cancer risk might be due to MS involvement in urological issues such as chronic UTI and indwelling catheters, while increased brain cancer figures could be a result of better diagnostics due to the increased frequency of MRI scans of the brain in people with MS.

A study using data on Canadians agrees with the increase in bladder cancer numbers among people with MS.

One way of analyzing the research is to say that we are sure that people with MS are simultaneously more, less, and just as likely to develop cancer as anyone else.

Not particularly helpful, and another pair of studies raises more questions.

What About Cancer Mortality?

When researchers compared survival following a breast cancer diagnosis in women with or without MS, their study results showed that “women with MS have lower all-cause survival after breast cancer diagnosis than women without MS.” But MS “was not associated with altered cancer-specific survival” in this group.

A study on mortality related to cancer in Norwegian MS patients found that all-cause mortality increased fivefold among people with MS, while mortality following a cancer diagnosis doubled among this group.

The researchers questioned whether the increased mortality they found in MS following female breast, ovarian, colorectal, and hematological cancer diagnoses could indicate diagnostic neglect — possibly because routine screenings aren’t done, or because symptoms of cancer aren’t recognized as such in this population.

How Should We React to These Studies?

All in all, the results of these various studies suggest to this writer that people with MS should do everything we can to avoid cancer risk factors (such as smoking, obesity, low physical activity, etc.), to have regular age-appropriate health and cancer checks (beyond just our MS appointments), and to talk to our neurologists about our cancer risks and concerns.

Some of these numbers are frightening. Seeing those dear to us contending with cancer can be even more so.

But knowing our risks is the first step to avoiding or at least confronting the beast in the room.

Wishing you and your family the best of health.

Cheers,

Trevis