The Association of Kidney Function and Inflammatory Biomarkers with Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Risk

One of the mechanisms of ovarian tumorigenesis is through inflammation. Kidney dysfunction is associated with increased inflammation; thus, we assessed its relationship with ovarian cancer risk.

In prospectively collected samples, we evaluated the association of kidney function markers and C-reactive protein (CRP) with ovarian cancer risk in the UK Biobank. We used multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models to evaluate quartiles of serum and urine markers with ovarian cancer risk overall and by histology. We assessed effect modification by CRP (≤3.0, >3.0 mg/L).

Among 232,908 women (1,110 ovarian cancer cases diagnosed from 2006-2020), we observed no association between estimated glomerular filtration rate and ovarian cancer risk (Q4 vs. Q1: HR, 1.00; 95% confidence intervals, 0.83-1.22). Potassium was associated with endometrioid (Q4 vs. Q1: 0.33, 0.11-0.98) and clear cell (4.74, 1.39-16.16) tumors. Poor kidney function was associated with a nonsignificant increase in ovarian cancer risk among women with CRP>3.0 mg/L (e.g., uric acid Q4 vs. Q1; 1.23, 0.81-1.86), but not CRP≤3.0 mg/L (0.83, 0.66-1.05). Other associations did not vary across CRP categories.

Kidney function was not clearly associated with ovarian cancer risk. Larger studies are needed to evaluate possible histology specific associations. Given the suggestive trend for increased ovarian cancer risk in women with poor kidney function and high CRP, future work is needed, particularly in populations with a high prevalence of inflammatory conditions.

This study provided the first evaluation of markers of kidney function in relation to ovarian cancer risk.