Risk of cancer in patients with sleep apnea: comparison of surgery versus CPAP in a long-term follow-up study

Purpose This study aimed to obtain a comprehensive view of the risk of developing cancer in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and to compare this risk between patients receiving continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy versus upper airway surgery (UAS). Methods We used both local data and a global-scale federated data research network, TriNetX, to access electronic medical records, including those of patients diagnosed with OSA from health-care organizations (HCOs) worldwide. We used propensity score matching and the score-matched analyses of data for 5 years of follow-up, Results We found that patients who had undergone UAS had a similar risk of developing cancer than those who used CPAP [hazard ratio of 0.767 (95% CI 0.559–1.053; P = 0.100)]. Conclusion Analysis of the large data sets collected from HCOs in Europe and globally lead us to conclude that in patients with OSA, neither CPAP nor UAS were associated with the development of cancer better than in non-treated patients.