Association between obstructive sleep apnoea and cancer: a cross-sectional, population-based study of the DISCOVERY cohort

OBJECTIVES

Nocturnal hypoxia in obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a potential risk factor for cancer. We aimed to investigate the association between OSA measures and cancer prevalence in a large national patient cohort.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTINGS

44 sleep centres in Sweden.

PARTICIPANTS

62 811 patients from the Swedish registry for positive airway pressure (PAP) treatment in OSA, linked to the national cancer registry and national socioeconomic data (the course of DIsease in patients reported to Swedish CPAP, Oxygen and VEntilator RegistrY cohort).

OUTCOME MEASURES

After propensity score matching for relevant confounders (anthropometric data, comorbidities, socioeconomic status, smoking prevalence), sleep apnoea severity, measured as Apnoea-Hypopnoea Index (AHI) or Oxygen Desaturation Index (ODI), were compared between those with and without cancer diagnosis up to 5 years prior to PAP initiation. Subgroup analysis for cancer subtype was performed.

RESULTS

OSA patients with cancer (n=2093) (29.8% females, age 65.3 (SD 10.1) years, body mass index 30 (IQR 27-34) kg/m²) had higher median AHI (n/hour) (32 (IQR 20-50) vs 30 (IQR 19-45), n/hour, p=0.002) and median ODI (n/hour) (28 (IQR 17-46) vs 26 (IQR 16-41), p<0.001) when compared with matched OSA patients without cancer. In subgroup analysis, ODI was significantly higher in OSA patients with lung cancer (N=57; 38 (21-61) vs 27 (16-43), p=0.012)), prostate cancer (N=617; 28 (17-46) vs 24, (16-39)p=0.005) and malignant melanoma (N=170; 32 (17-46) vs 25 (14-41),p=0.015).

CONCLUSIONS

OSA mediated intermittent hypoxia was independently associated with cancer prevalence in this large, national cohort. Future longitudinal studies are warranted to study the potential protective influence of OSA treatment on cancer incidence.

Course of DISease In patients reported to the Swedish CPAP Oxygen and VEntilator RegistrY (DISCOVERY) with population-based controls

PURPOSE

Chronic hypoxic and hypercapnic respiratory failure and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) are chronic diseases associated with decreased quality of life and increased mortality. The rationale behind the set up the retrospective nationwide DISCOVERY cohort was to study several questions including disease course and risk factors for incident disease, impaired quality of life, hospitalisation risk and mortality in patients with chronic respiratory failure with long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT), long-term mechanical ventilation (LTMV) and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) on treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTINGS

Data from the national quality registry for respiratory insufficiency and sleep apnoea (Swedevox) and a population-based control group from Statistics Sweden were merged with governmental registries, the Swedish Cancer Registry, the Swedish Cause of Death Registry, the Swedish Drug registry, the Swedish National Patient Registry and the Swedish Dental Health Registry and with national quality registries for diabetes, rheumatic diseases (Swedish Rheumatology Quality Registry), stroke (RiksStroke), heart failure (RiksSvikt), acute heart infarction care (SwedeHeart) and intensive care (SIR) and with socioeconomic data from Statistics Sweden (SCB).

FINDINGS TO DATE

The cohort comprises 25 804 unique patients with LTOT since 1987 (54.1% females, age 73.3±9.8 years, body mass index (BMI) 26.6±6.5 kg/m2), 8111 with LTMV since 1996 (48.6% women, age 60.6±16.9 years, BMI 32.9±10.8 kg/m2), 65 809 with OSA on CPAP since 2010 (29.5% women, age 57.2±12.5 years, BMI 31.9±6.2 kg/m2) and 145 224 persons in a population-based control group from same time span up to March 2018 (51.7% women, age 49.9±20.4 year, BMI 24.9±4.0 years).

FUTURE PLANS

In patients with chronic respiratory failure and sleep apnoea important questions regarding comorbidity burden, hospitalisation rate, mortality and treatment outcomes are still unexplored to a large extent. The DISCOVERY cohort will provide unique opportunities by its size and comprehensiveness to fill this clinically relevant gap of knowledge.

0460 Insomnia In 400 Women: Polysomnography, Immune Parameters, Depression and Anxiety

Introduction

Insomnia disorder has a very weak link to polysomnography (PSG) and so does sleep problems in the general population. The reason for this is not clear. One possibility is that the perception of disturbed sleep may be related to immune activation or anxiety/depression, without impairment of objective sleep.

Methods

400 women participated, constituting a representative sample of the city of Uppsala with oversampling of snorers. Insomniacs (N=41) were compared with normal sleepers in terms of polysomnography (PSG), immune parameters, anxiety and depression

Results

The results (after adjustment for age and BMI) show that C-reactive protein (CRP) reached a higher level (4.4±.5) in insomniacs (vs 2.3±.2 for normal sleepers) (p=.003) and lower subjective health (p=.000), while anxiety (p=.000) and depression (p=.000) (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD)) showed higher levels. PSG sleep continuity variables lacked association with insomnia, as did all sleep stage variables except for REM%, with a lower level in the insomnia group (p=.021). Interleukin 6 and Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha were not related to insomnia. CRP levels did not correlate significantly with anxiety or depression, but with subjective health (r=-.21, p=.000). A logistic regression analysis (excluding the variable subjective health) with insomnia as outcome (0/1) yielded as predictors CRP (OR=1.14, Ci= 1.05; 1.24, p=.000), depression (OR=1.21, Ci=1.06;1.38, p=.000) and anxiety (OR=1.15, Ci=1.02;1.30, p=.021).

Conclusion

It was concluded that increased CRP levels may be part of the subjective experience of insomnia.

Support

No external funding