Trend and Cancer-Specific Prevalence of Kidney Stones Among US Cancer Survivors, 2007-2020

Purpose: To evaluate the prevalence and cancer-specific patterns of kidney stones among U.S. cancer survivors compared to non-cancer adults. Methods: This was a serial cross-sectional, descriptive epidemiologic analysis of a US nationally representative sample from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2007 to 2020. Weighted prevalence of kidney stones was estimated for both non-cancer adults and cancer survivors by study cycle. Multivariable logistic regression was conducted to examine factors associated with higher probability of kidney stones in both non-cancer adults and cancer survivors. Results: From 2007-2008 to 2017-2020, kidney stone prevalence rose in both non-cancer adults (8.5% to 9.2%, p for trend = 0.013) and cancer survivors (13.1% to 17.3%, p for trend = 0.033). Throughout the study period, prevalence was consistently higher in cancer survivors. The overall prevalence from 2007 to 2020 was 15.8% (95% CI: 14.0-17.5%) in cancer survivors and 9.2% (95% CI: 8.8-9.6%) in non-cancer adults. After adjusting for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health factors, cancer survivors had higher odds of kidney stones (OR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.10-1.49). Compared with non-cancer adults, survivors of ovarian (OR = 3.71, 95% CI: 1.77-7.78), kidney (OR = 2.88, 95% CI: 1.46-5.68), bone and soft tissue (OR = 2.86, 95% CI: 1.12-7.30), uterine (OR = 1.94, 95% CI: 1.17-3.22), cervix (OR = 1.68, 95% CI: 1.08-2.61) and prostate (OR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.06-1.87) cancers were statistically more likely to report kidney stones. The prevalence was numerically highest among survivors of kidney cancer (34.7%), followed by bone and soft tissue (29.9%), ovarian (29.8%), and testicular (26.3%) cancers. Conclusions: The higher prevalence of kidney stones in cancer survivors, with substantial variation by cancer type, highlights the urgent need for effective clinical management of kidney stones in oncology settings and mechanistic research.