Do I Have to be Worried About Cancer if I Have Obstructive Sleep Apnea? | Insight Medical Publishing

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep breathing disorder, characterized by recurrent upper airway obstruction triggered by complete or partial upper airway collapse during sleep. It is a major public health issue, and it has been strongly associated with cardiovascular and metabolic morbidity and mortality, as well as behavioral and cognitive dysfunction. Recently, OSA has been associated with an increased solid tumor prevalence and poorer outcome, suggesting these patients are at higher risk to develop solid tumor malignancies or to die from oncological complications. The underlying mechanisms are not completely understood, but intermittent hypoxia is considered to be a major factor of OSA for promoting tumor invasion and metastasis. We discuss in the present review the current evidence of obstructive sleep apnea and cancer relationship.