Association between prior cancer diagnosis and osteoporosis: a matched case-control study.

Unlabelled: Epidemiological studies show an inconsistent association between cancer and osteoporosis. In this nationally representative population-based study, we found that a prior cancer diagnosis was not associated with osteoporosis. This finding may primarily apply to cancer survivors seen many years after their cancer diagnosis.

Background: Epidemiological studies show an inconsistent association between cancer and osteoporosis. We examined the association between a prior cancer diagnosis and osteoporosis in population-based data.

Methods: We performed an age- and sex-matched case-control study (1:2 matching ratio) using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011-2018. Cases were determined by self-reported prior diagnosis of cancer; all controls were free of cancer at the time of bone density measurement with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. We defined osteoporosis as a T-score ≤  - 2.5 at femoral neck, total hip, or lumbar spine. Unconditional multivariable logistic regression was used to test the association between a prior cancer diagnosis and osteoporosis.

Results: We identified 246 prior cancer cases and 492 controls (mean age: 65.8 years) in females, and 243 prior cancer cases and 486 controls (mean age: 68.0 years) in males. The most common types of cancer in females and males were breast cancer and prostate cancer, respectively. Osteoporosis prevalences were comparable between cases and controls among females (19.1% in cases vs. 18.7% in controls; P = 0.894) and males (5.8% in cases vs. 6.8% in controls; P = 0.594). After adjusting for covariates, a prior cancer diagnosis was not associated with osteoporosis in females (odds ratio [OR]: 0.83; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.54-1.29) or males (OR: 1.09; 95% CI: 0.51-2.30). Results were unaffected by cancer severity, cancer type, or time since cancer diagnosis.

Conclusions: A prior cancer diagnosis was not associated with osteoporosis in this nationally representative population.