Frequency of multiple primary cancers in the lung and other organs in hemodialysis patients

We examined whether cancers frequently occur in hemodialysis patients, and therefore, investigated the features and outcomes of hemodialysis patients who had undergone surgery for non-small cell lung cancer.

Between 1995 and 2011, 14 hemodialysis patients with lung cancer (8 males and 6 females) with a mean age of 67.0 years successfully underwent pulmonary resection at our institution. We investigated the 5-year survival rate and causes of death. The occurrence of multiple primary cancers in our patients and other lung-cancer patients reported in the articles were statistically compared by Chi-square test. A p value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

The 5-year survival rate was 47.3 %, and six patients had died before our investigation. Four of the six had died of non-cancerous diseases related to hemodialysis. Five of 14 patients had a history of other primary cancers in other organs, and this incidence rate of multiple primary cancers was significantly higher than in other lung-cancer patients (p = 0.0071).

The frequency of cancer in hemodialysis patients can be underestimated because of their early deaths by non-cancerous diseases. However, the incidence rate of multiple primary cancers may represent a unique characteristic of such patients.