Serum Uric Acid Increases Risk of Cancer Incidence and Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Shushan Yan,Pengjun Zhang,Changjiang Hua,Bin Wang,Beicheng Sun,Wei Xu,Yuqing Liu,Xuan Wang,Donghua Xu,Tao Jiang

doi:10.1155/2015/764250

Abstract

SUA is a potent antioxidant and thus may play a protective role against cancer. Many epidemiological studies have investigated this hypothesis but provided inconsistent and inconclusive findings. We aimed to precisely elucidate the association between SUA levels and cancer by pooling all available publications. Totally, 5 independent studies with 456,053 subjects and 12 with 632,472 subjects were identified after a comprehensive literature screening from PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science. The pooled RRs showed that individuals with high SUA levels were at an increased risk of total cancer incidence (RR = 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.05, P = 0.007). Positive association between high SUA levels and total cancer incidence was observed in males but not females (for men: RR = 1.05, 95% CI 1.02–1.08, P = 0.002; for women, RR = 1.01, 95% CI 0.98–1.04, P = 0.512). Besides, high SUA levels were associated with an elevated risk of total cancer mortality (RR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.04–1.32, P = 0.010), particularly in females (RR = 1.25, 95% CI 1.07–1.45, P = 0.004). The study suggests that high SUA levels increase the risk of total cancer incidence and mortality. The data do not support the hypothesis of a protective role of SUA in cancer.

Highlights

Serum uric acid (SUA) is one of the most abundant molecules with antioxidant properties in human blood acting as a free radical scavenger and a chelator of transitional metal ion [1, 2]
The study by Kuo et al has suggested that low SUA levels are associated with elevated risk of cancer-related mortality compared with high SUA levels, which implicates a protective role of SUA in cancer [8]
We evaluated the strength for association between SUA levels and cancer by calculating the pooled relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs)

Summary

Introduction

Serum uric acid (SUA) is one of the most abundant molecules with antioxidant properties in human blood acting as a free radical scavenger and a chelator of transitional metal ion [1, 2]. Emerging data has suggested the causative role of elevated UA levels in cardiovascular, respiratory diseases, renal diseases, and metabolic syndrome [2,3,4]. Hyperuricemia is a consequence of impaired kidney function and can increase the risk of chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease [5]. It has been hypothesized that SUA may confer protective effects on cancer due to its antioxidant property [7]. The study by Kuo et al has suggested that low SUA levels are associated with elevated risk of cancer-related mortality compared with high SUA levels, which implicates a protective role of SUA in cancer [8]. Strasak AM and colleagues have demonstrated that high SUA levels are independently related to increased risk of total cancer mortality [9].

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