Individual participant data meta-analysis of association between chronic kidney disease and incident cancer risk

Studies examining the association of chronic kidney disease with cancer risk have demonstrated conflicting results. An individual participant data meta-analysis of studies by the CKD Prognosis Consortium (54 studies; over 1.3 million participants) found that higher albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) but not estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was associated with increased risk of overall cancer. For specific cancers, lower eGFR was associated with urological cancer and multiple myeloma, whereas higher ACR was associated with many cancer types. The authors conclude that these results warrant an investigation into mechanisms that explain the link between albuminuria and cancer.