Challenging Multi-Morbidities: Obstructive Sleep Apnoea and Cancer
Isaac Almendros 1, Josep María Montserrat 2, Ramón Farré 1
1 Department of Biophysics and Bioengineering, Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Centre for Biomedical Research in the Respiratory Diseases Network (CIBERES), Madrid, Spain and Institute for Biomedical Research August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain; 2 Centre for Biomedical Research in the Respiratory Diseases Network (CIBERES), Madrid, Spain; Sleep Laboratory, Department of Pulmonology, Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, and Institute for Biomedical Research August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
*Correspondence: Isaac Almendros, Email not available
Abstract
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is a highly prevalent disorder in adults and has been associated with a large array of end-organ morbidities affecting multiple organ systems. From recent epidemiological studies there is growing evidence linking this sleep breathing disorder with an increased incidence and enhanced mortality in cancer, where the recurrent oxygen desaturations experienced by patients with OSA have been proposed as a major determinant of adverse cancer outcomes. The use of translational models mimicking the intermittent hypoxia and sleep fragmentation that characterize OSA have shown that both challenges can enhance tumour growth and malignancy in several types of cancers including melanoma, kidney cancer, and lung carcinoma. Moreover, translational and basic researches have provided solid emerging evidence implicating the immune system in the adverse cancer outcomes linked to intermittent hypoxia. Here we review all data available to date on the relationship between OSA and cancer from clinical and translational studies.
