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Updated: Feb 27, 2026
In Vivo Modeling of the Morbid Human Genome using Danio rerio
Published on: August 24, 2013
Benign and malignant tumors in the UK myotonic dystrophy patient registry
Rotana Alsaggaf1,2, Youjin Wang1, Chiara Marini-Bettolo3
1Clinical Genetics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Introduction:
In light of recent evidence indicating that cancer is part of the myotonic dystrophy (DM) phenotype, we assessed the prevalence of benign and malignant tumors among 220 patients enrolled in the UK Myotonic Dystrophy Patient Registry and evaluated factors associated with their development.
Methods:
A survey was distributed to collect tumor history and lifestyle information. We used multinomial logistic regression for the analysis.
Results:
Thirty-nine benign (30 patients), and 16 malignant (15 patients) tumors were reported. Increasing age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.13, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05-1.21, P = 0.001) and earlier age at DM diagnosis (OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.00-1.13, P = 0.04) were associated with benign and malignant tumors (OR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.10-1.30, P < 0.001 and OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.01-1.15, P = 0.02, respectively). Female gender was associated with benign tumors only (OR = 6.43, 95% CI = 1.79-23.04, P = 0.004). No associations were observed between tumors and smoking (P = 0.24), alcohol consumption (P = 0.50), or body mass index (P = 0.21).
Discussion:
Our results confirm previous findings suggesting a limited role for common lifestyle factors and a potential genetic contribution in DM tumor predisposition. Muscle Nerve 57: 316-320, 2018.
