Anorexia nervosa and cancer risk

L Mellemkjaer; C Emborg; G Gridley; P Munk-Jørgensen; C Johansen; A Tjønneland; S K Kjaer; J H Olsen

doi:10.1023/a:1008974414116

Anorexia nervosa and cancer risk

L Mellemkjaer, C Emborg, G Gridley, P Munk-Jørgensen, C Johansen, A Tjønneland, S K Kjaer, J H Olsen

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Energy restriction reduces the incidence of malignant tumors in experimental animals, but evidence for a similar effect in humans is lacking. To test the hypothesis in humans, we investigated cancer incidence among patients with anorexia nervosa, who have had an extremely low intake of calories for prolonged periods of their lives.

METHODS: Patients with anorexia nervosa (2151 women and 186 men) during 1970-1993 were identified in the population-based Danish Psychiatric Case Register and the National Registry of Patients. The cohort was linked to the Danish Cancer Registry, and cancer incidence among cohort members was compared with that of the general population.

RESULTS: The overall cancer incidence among women with anorexia nervosa was reduced by a factor of 0.80 (95% confidence interval 0.52-1.18) below that of the general population on the basis of 25 observed and 31.4 expected cases. Among men, two cases of cancer were observed, both confined to the brain, whereas 0.2 cases were expected.

CONCLUSIONS: The finding of a slight reduction in cancer risk among women with anorexia nervosa may support the theory that a low-energy diet may decrease tumor development in humans. However, longer follow-up and control for confounding factors are needed to obtain more convincing evidence.

Original language	English
Journal	Cancer Causes and Control
Volume	12
Issue number	2
Pages (from-to)	173-7
Number of pages	5
ISSN	0957-5243
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1008974414116
Publication status	Published - Feb 2001
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Adolescent
Adult
Age Distribution
Anorexia Nervosa/diagnosis
Case-Control Studies
Child
Cohort Studies
Comorbidity
Denmark/epidemiology
Female
Humans
Incidence
Male
Middle Aged
Neoplasms/diagnosis
Nutritional Status
Poisson Distribution
Reference Values
Registries
Risk Assessment
Sex Distribution

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10.1023/a:1008974414116

Cite this

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title = "Anorexia nervosa and cancer risk",

abstract = "OBJECTIVE: Energy restriction reduces the incidence of malignant tumors in experimental animals, but evidence for a similar effect in humans is lacking. To test the hypothesis in humans, we investigated cancer incidence among patients with anorexia nervosa, who have had an extremely low intake of calories for prolonged periods of their lives.METHODS: Patients with anorexia nervosa (2151 women and 186 men) during 1970-1993 were identified in the population-based Danish Psychiatric Case Register and the National Registry of Patients. The cohort was linked to the Danish Cancer Registry, and cancer incidence among cohort members was compared with that of the general population.RESULTS: The overall cancer incidence among women with anorexia nervosa was reduced by a factor of 0.80 (95\% confidence interval 0.52-1.18) below that of the general population on the basis of 25 observed and 31.4 expected cases. Among men, two cases of cancer were observed, both confined to the brain, whereas 0.2 cases were expected.CONCLUSIONS: The finding of a slight reduction in cancer risk among women with anorexia nervosa may support the theory that a low-energy diet may decrease tumor development in humans. However, longer follow-up and control for confounding factors are needed to obtain more convincing evidence.",

keywords = "Adolescent, Adult, Age Distribution, Anorexia Nervosa/diagnosis, Case-Control Studies, Child, Cohort Studies, Comorbidity, Denmark/epidemiology, Female, Humans, Incidence, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasms/diagnosis, Nutritional Status, Poisson Distribution, Reference Values, Registries, Risk Assessment, Sex Distribution",

author = "L Mellemkjaer and C Emborg and G Gridley and P Munk-J{\o}rgensen and C Johansen and A Tj{\o}nneland and Kjaer, \{S K\} and Olsen, \{J H\}",

year = "2001",

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doi = "10.1023/a:1008974414116",

language = "English",

volume = "12",

pages = "173--7",

journal = "Cancer Causes and Control",

issn = "0957-5243",

publisher = "Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH",

number = "2",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Anorexia nervosa and cancer risk

AU - Mellemkjaer, L

AU - Emborg, C

AU - Gridley, G

AU - Munk-Jørgensen, P

AU - Johansen, C

AU - Tjønneland, A

AU - Kjaer, S K

AU - Olsen, J H

PY - 2001/2

Y1 - 2001/2

N2 - OBJECTIVE: Energy restriction reduces the incidence of malignant tumors in experimental animals, but evidence for a similar effect in humans is lacking. To test the hypothesis in humans, we investigated cancer incidence among patients with anorexia nervosa, who have had an extremely low intake of calories for prolonged periods of their lives.METHODS: Patients with anorexia nervosa (2151 women and 186 men) during 1970-1993 were identified in the population-based Danish Psychiatric Case Register and the National Registry of Patients. The cohort was linked to the Danish Cancer Registry, and cancer incidence among cohort members was compared with that of the general population.RESULTS: The overall cancer incidence among women with anorexia nervosa was reduced by a factor of 0.80 (95% confidence interval 0.52-1.18) below that of the general population on the basis of 25 observed and 31.4 expected cases. Among men, two cases of cancer were observed, both confined to the brain, whereas 0.2 cases were expected.CONCLUSIONS: The finding of a slight reduction in cancer risk among women with anorexia nervosa may support the theory that a low-energy diet may decrease tumor development in humans. However, longer follow-up and control for confounding factors are needed to obtain more convincing evidence.

AB - OBJECTIVE: Energy restriction reduces the incidence of malignant tumors in experimental animals, but evidence for a similar effect in humans is lacking. To test the hypothesis in humans, we investigated cancer incidence among patients with anorexia nervosa, who have had an extremely low intake of calories for prolonged periods of their lives.METHODS: Patients with anorexia nervosa (2151 women and 186 men) during 1970-1993 were identified in the population-based Danish Psychiatric Case Register and the National Registry of Patients. The cohort was linked to the Danish Cancer Registry, and cancer incidence among cohort members was compared with that of the general population.RESULTS: The overall cancer incidence among women with anorexia nervosa was reduced by a factor of 0.80 (95% confidence interval 0.52-1.18) below that of the general population on the basis of 25 observed and 31.4 expected cases. Among men, two cases of cancer were observed, both confined to the brain, whereas 0.2 cases were expected.CONCLUSIONS: The finding of a slight reduction in cancer risk among women with anorexia nervosa may support the theory that a low-energy diet may decrease tumor development in humans. However, longer follow-up and control for confounding factors are needed to obtain more convincing evidence.

KW - Adolescent

KW - Adult

KW - Age Distribution

KW - Anorexia Nervosa/diagnosis

KW - Case-Control Studies

KW - Child

KW - Cohort Studies

KW - Comorbidity

KW - Denmark/epidemiology

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Incidence

KW - Male

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Neoplasms/diagnosis

KW - Nutritional Status

KW - Poisson Distribution

KW - Reference Values

KW - Registries

KW - Risk Assessment

KW - Sex Distribution

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/0035109523

U2 - 10.1023/a:1008974414116

DO - 10.1023/a:1008974414116

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 11246846

SN - 0957-5243

VL - 12

SP - 173

EP - 177

JO - Cancer Causes and Control

JF - Cancer Causes and Control

IS - 2

ER -

Anorexia nervosa and cancer risk

Abstract

Keywords

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