Cancer risk not increased in people with MS

MS has been associated with a higher than average risk of developing certain other diseases (such as IBD, as reported in one recent study posted to MSNews). In Denmark, a group of researchers evaluated whether cancer risk is elevated in people with MS. The Danish researchers took advantage of large national registries set up for MS and for cancer, identifying people in the MS registry who were also on the cancer registry. Comparison of the percentage of MS subjects who had cancer with national cancer rates revealed that overall, MS is not associated with an increased risk of cancer. Analyzing the results by gender, cancer risk in men with MS was shown to be reduced compared with the average risk. The incidence of cancer in general in women with MS was equivalent to the national rate, although women with MS did have a slightly higher rate of breast cancer (this could not be attributed to lower number of children or higher age at childbirth).