[Pernicious anemia and risk of cancer in Denmark]

The cancer pattern was investigated among 5072 patients with a discharge diagnosis of pernicious anaemia during 1977-1989, using data from the Danish Hospital Discharge, Central Population and Cancer registries. During 1-15 years of follow-up we found, in line with earlier reports, two to three-fold increases in the risk of cancer of the stomach, buccal cavity and pharynx, which were unchanged when the analysis was stratified according to sex and duration of follow-up. A previously reported positive association with haematological cancers could only be found for short term follow-up to indicate that no real association exists. Our cohort of patients with pernicious anaemia experienced significantly reduced risks of cervix and non-melanoma skin cancer.