Cancer risk in individuals with polydactyly: a Swedish population-based cohort study
Menée à l'aide de données suédoises portant sur 6 694 personnes atteintes de polydactylie, cette étude analyse leur risque de cancer en fonction du sexe
Background: Polydactyly is a feature of several cancer predisposition syndromes (CPS), however, cancer risk in individuals with polydactyly is largely unknown.
Methods: We performed a matched cohort study using data from Swedish national registers. We included 6694 individuals with polydactyly, born in Sweden between 1970–2017. Polydactyly was categorised as thumb polydactyly, finger polydactyly, polydactyly+ (additional birth defects and/or intellectual disability) or isolated polydactyly. Each exposed individual was matched to 50 comparisons by sex, birth year and birth county. Associations were estimated through Cox proportional hazard models.
Findings: An increased childhood cancer risk was found in males (HR 4.24, 95% CI 2.03–8.84) and females (HR 3.32, 95% CI 1.44–7.63) with polydactyly+. Isolated polydactyly was associated with cancer in childhood (HR 1.87, 95% CI 1.05–3.33) and young adulthood (HR 2.30, 95% CI 1.17–4.50) in males but not in females. The increased cancer risk remained after exclusion of two known CPS: Down syndrome and neurofibromatosis. The highest site-specific cancer risk was observed for kidney cancer and leukaemia.
Conclusions: An increased cancer risk was found in individuals with polydactyly, especially in males and in individuals with polydactyly+. We encourage future research about polydactyly and cancer associations and emphasise the importance of clinical phenotyping.
British Journal of Cancer , article en libre accès, 2024