Issue 33.2
Research Finds Brain Cancer Risk Increase After Penetrating TBI
Moderate / severe and penetrating traumatic brain injury ( TBI ) are associated with an increased risk for subsequent development of brain cancer , according to a study published online in JAMA Network Open .
Ian J . Stewart , M . D ., from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda , Maryland , and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study to examine whether a history of TBI exposure is associated with subsequent development of brain cancer . Data were included for 1,919,740 veterans ( 80.25 percent male ; 63.11 percent non-Hispanic white ).
The researchers found there were 449,880 individuals with TBI ( 385,848 ; 46,859 ; and 17,173 with mild , moderate / severe , and penetrating TBI , respectively ).
Overall , brain cancer occurred in 0.02 percent of individuals without TBI and in 0.02 , 0.04 , and ≤0.06 percent of individuals with mild , moderate / severe , and penetrating TBI , respectively .
Moderate / severe TBI and penetrating TBI were associated with subsequent development of brain cancer after adjustment ( adjusted hazard ratios [ 95 percent confidence intervals ], 1.90 [ 1.71 to 6.49 ] and 3.33 [ 1.16 to 3.12 ], respectively ), but mild TBI was not ( adjusted hazard ratio , 1.14 ; 95 percent confidence interval , 0.88 to 1.47 ).
“ We found that moderate / severe TBI and penetrating TBI were associated with the subsequent development of brain cancer ,” the authors write . “ While the absolute number of brain cancer diagnoses was small , these diagnoses are associated with profoundly poor outcomes .” g
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