MONDAY, June 30, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Breast cancer survivors have a lower risk of Alzheimer disease (AD) compared with cancer-free controls, according to a study published online June 20 in JAMA Network Open.

Su-Min Jeong, M.D., from the Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea, and colleagues examined the risk of AD among breast cancer survivors versus cancer-free controls in a retrospective cohort study using data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service. A total of 70,701 patients who underwent breast cancer surgery between Jan. 1, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2016, were included and matched in a 1:3 ratio with cancer-free controls; participants were followed for a median of 7.3 years.

The researchers detected 1,229 cases of AD among breast cancer survivors, for an incidence rate of 2.45 per 1,000 person-years. Compared with cancer-free controls, survivors exhibited a slightly lower risk of AD (subdistribution hazard ratio 0.92), especially for those aged 65 years or older (subdistribution hazard ratio, 0.92). This lower risk did not persist beyond five years of survival in landmark analyses. Among survivors, reduced risk of AD was seen in association with cancer treated with radiation therapy (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.77).

“Breast cancer survivors may have a slightly lower risk of AD compared with cancer-free individuals, potentially influenced by cancer treatments, underscoring the need for further research on long-term neurocognitive outcomes in this population,” the authors write.

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