Patients with hemophilia have a higher incidence of cancers overall compared with the general population, but not prostate cancer (PCa), according to a new study.

Yung-Chieh Huang, MD, of the Taichung Veterans General Hospital in Taichung, Taiwan, and colleagues looked at the incidence of various cancers and associated survival among 1,054 patients with hemophilia and 10,540 age-and gender-matched healthy individuals from the general population. The cumulative incidences of cancer were 4.7% among the patients with hemophilia and 1.9% in the general population, the researchers reported online ahead of print in the American Journal of Hematology. The investigators found no significant differences between the 2 groups in the incidences of PCa, lung, or colorectal cancer or in survival rate.

Hepatocellular carcinoma was the major type of cancer observed in the hemophiliacs, occurring in 17 patients.

Compared with the general population, patients with hemophilia were significantly younger at the time of cancer diagnosis (45.1 vs. 57.2 years old) and had fewer comorbidities.

From the March 01, 2015 Issue of Renal and Urology News