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Sleep disorders trigger cancer
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
The results of a new study presented at the European Respiratory Society Annual Congress in Vienna indicate a strong link between sleep apnea and cancer deaths.
Sleep apnea is a condition in which a person's lungs periodically stop breathing for ten seconds or more during sleep. Scientists have found that the disorder significantly increases the risk of dying from cancer.
In the first trial, the researchers studied more than 5,600 patients in Spain. The researchers used the hypoxemic index to determine the severity of sleep apnea in patients. This index measures how long a person sleeps with lower than normal blood oxygen levels.
It turned out that patients whose blood oxygen saturation levels were below 90 percent for 14 percent or more of their sleep had a twice-high risk of dying from cancer compared with those whose airways were working normally during sleep. The strongest association between sleep apnea and cancer mortality was found among women and young people.
Sleep apnea can be prevented with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. This is achieved by creating an airflow that keeps the patient's upper airway open while they sleep. A study found that patients who did not regularly use a CPAP device had a higher risk of dying from cancer than those who did.
"We found a significant increase in the relative risk of dying from cancer in people with sleep apnea. Our study only confirms the association between cancer and apnea, but it does not mean that sleep apnea causes cancer," said Dr. Angel Martinez García, lead researcher at the La Fe University Hospital in Valencia.
The results of the second study were more or less identical. It found that people with sleep apnea were much more likely to develop any type of cancer than people without difficulty breathing during sleep. The results held true for people of any gender, age, and weight.
"We hope that our findings will encourage people to get tested for sleep apnea and start treatment immediately to maintain a good quality of life," said Dr Francisco Campos Rodriguez of the Valme University Hospital in Seville.
The authors of the study insist on the need for further research into this issue in order to clarify the nature of the relationship between cancer and apnea and to use new discoveries for the benefit of medicine.
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