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Concerns have been raised that degradation of implants used in hip and knee arthroplasty may lead to an increased risk of some cancers, particularly those of the haematopoietic, lymphatic and urinary systems. We used linked statistical records of hospital admissions and deaths to compare cancer rates in cohorts of people who had undergone hip or knee arthroplasty with a comparison cohort. We did not find an elevated risk for cancer, overall, in either the hip or knee cohort or in both combined (rate ratio for both combined 0.99; 95% confidence intervals 0.95-1.02), or for haematopoietic, lymphatic or urinary system cancers. There was also no elevation in risk of cancer more than 10 years after arthroplasty. Our findings add to the evidence that arthroplasty is safe in respect of cancer risk.

Original publication

DOI

10.1038/sj.bjc.6602511

Type

Journal article

Journal

Br J Cancer

Publication Date

11/04/2005

Volume

92

Pages

1298 - 1301

Keywords

Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip, Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee, Cohort Studies, England, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasms, Patient Admission, Risk Factors