Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
The Journal of Headache and Pain
Published in: The Journal of Headache and Pain 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research article

Association of migraines with brain tumors: a nationwide population-based study

Authors: Chao-Hung Chen, Jau-Jiuan Sheu, Yi-Chun Lin, Herng-Ching Lin

Published in: The Journal of Headache and Pain | Issue 1/2018

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Several studies examined headaches as a symptom of brain neoplasms. Nevertheless, very few studies attempted to specifically evaluate the role of headaches as a risk factor. This study aimed to investigate the risk of migraine occurrence in the preceding years among patients diagnosed with brain tumors and unaffected controls.

Methods

Data were obtained from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. In total, 11,325 adults with a first-time brain tumor diagnosis were included as cases, together with 11,325 unaffected matched controls. Each individual was traced in the healthcare claims dataset for a prior diagnosis of migraines. Conditional logistic regressions were performed to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) to present the association between brain tumors and having previously been diagnosed with migraines.

Results

We found that among patients with and those without brain tumors, 554 (4.89%) and 235 (2.08%) individuals, respectively, were identified as having a prior migraine diagnosis. Compared to unaffected controls, patients with brain tumors experienced an independent 2.45-fold increased risk of having a prior migraine diagnosis. The risks were even higher among men (odds ratio (OR) = 3.04, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.29~ 4.04) and after patients who had received a prior migraine diagnosis within 3 years were excluded (OR = 1.91, 95% CI = 1.59~ 2.29).

Conclusions

This is the first report demonstrating the occurrence of brain tumors to be associated with a prior migraine history, for both men and women, in a population-based study.
Literature
1.
Headache Classification Committee of the International Headache Society (IHS) the international classification of headache disorders, 3rd edition Cephalalgia 2018;38:1–211
2.
Headache Classification Committee of the International Headache S (2013) The international classification of headache disorders, 3rd edition (beta version). Cephalalgia 33:629–808CrossRef
3.
Goadsby PJ, Lipton RB, Ferrari MD (2002) Migraine--current understanding and treatment. N Engl J Med 346:257–270CrossRef
4.
Lipton RB, Bigal ME, Diamond M et al (2007) Migraine prevalence, disease burden, and the need for preventive therapy. Neurology 68:343–349CrossRef
5.
Bloudek LM, Stokes M, Buse DC et al (2012) Cost of healthcare for patients with migraine in five European countries: results from the international burden of migraine study (IBMS). J Headache Pain 13:361–378CrossRef
6.
Blumenfeld AM, Varon SF, Wilcox TK et al (2011) Disability, HRQoL and resource use among chronic and episodic migraineurs: results from the international burden of migraine study (IBMS). Cephalalgia 31:301–315CrossRef
7.
Munakata J, Hazard E, Serrano D et al (2009) Economic burden of transformed migraine: results from the American migraine prevalence and prevention (AMPP) study. Headache 49:498–508CrossRef
8.
Buse DC, Manack A, Serrano D et al (2010) Sociodemographic and comorbidity profiles of chronic migraine and episodic migraine sufferers. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 81:428–432CrossRef
9.
Sancisi E, Cevoli S, Vignatelli L et al (2010) Increased prevalence of sleep disorders in chronic headache: a case-control study. Headache 50:1464–1472CrossRef
10.
Scher AI, Lipton RB, Stewart WF (2003) Habitual snoring as a risk factor for chronic daily headache. Neurology 60:1366–1368CrossRef
11.
Morgan M, Jenkins L, Ridsdale L (2007) Patient pressure for referral for headache: a qualitative study of GPs' referral behaviour. Br J Gen Pract 57:29–35PubMedPubMedCentral
12.
Chandana SR, Movva S, Arora M et al (2008) Primary brain tumors in adults. Am Fam Physician 77:1423–1430PubMed
13.
Goffaux P, Fortin D (2010) Brain tumor headaches: from bedside to bench. Neurosurgery 67:459–466CrossRef
14.
Purdy RA, Kirby S (2004) Headaches and brain tumors. Neurol Clin 22:39–53CrossRef
15.
Pfund Z, Szapary L, Jaszberenyi O et al (1999) Headache in intracranial tumors. Cephalalgia 19:787–790CrossRef
16.
Valentinis L, Tuniz F, Valent F et al (2010) Headache attributed to intracranial tumours: a prospective cohort study. Cephalalgia 30:389–398PubMed
17.
Kurth T, Buring JE, Rist PM (2015) Headache, migraine and risk of brain tumors in women: prospective cohort study. J Headache Pain 16:501CrossRef
18.
Wang SJ (2003) Epidemiology of migraine and other types of headache in Asia. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 3:104–108CrossRef
19.
Wong TW, Wong KS, Yu TS et al (1995) Prevalence of migraine and other headaches in Hong Kong. Neuroepidemiology 14:82–91CrossRef
20.
Alders EE, Hentzen A, Tan CT (1996) A community-based prevalence study on headache in Malaysia. Headache 36:379–384CrossRef
21.
Sakai F, Igarashi H (1997) Prevalence of migraine in Japan: a nationwide survey. Cephalalgia 17:15–22CrossRef
22.
Wang SJ, Fuh JL, Young YH et al (2000) Prevalence of migraine in Taipei, Taiwan: a population-based survey. Cephalalgia 20:566–572CrossRef
23.
Woldeamanuel YW, Cowan RP (2017) Migraine affects 1 in 10 people worldwide featuring recent rise: a systematic review and meta-analysis of community-based studies involving 6 million participants. J Neurol Sci 372:307–315CrossRef
24.
Stark RJ, Ravishankar K, Siow HC, Lee KS, Pepperle R, Wang SJ (2013) Chronic migraine and chronic daily headache in the Asia-Pacific region: a systematic review. Cephalalgia 33(4):266–283CrossRef
25.
Lasch KE (2002) Culture and pain. Pain: Clinical Updates 10(5):16–22
26.
Yu S, Liu R, Zhao G et al (2012) The prevalence and burden of primary headaches in China: a population-based door-to-door survey. Headache 52:582–591CrossRef
27.
Kernick D, Stapley S, Goadsby PJ et al (2008) What happens to new-onset headache presented to primary care? A case-cohort study using electronic primary care records. Cephalalgia 28:1188–1195CrossRef
28.
Nelson S, Taylor LP (2014) Headaches in brain tumor patients: primary or secondary? Headache 54:776–785CrossRef
29.
Kahn K, Finkel A (2014) It IS a tumor -- current review of headache and brain tumor. Curr Pain Headache Rep 18:421CrossRef
30.
Arora RS, Alston RD, Eden TO et al (2010) Are reported increases in incidence of primary CNS tumours real? An analysis of longitudinal trends in England, 1979-2003. Eur J Cancer 46:1607–1616CrossRef
31.
Caldarella A, Crocetti E, Paci E (2011) Is the incidence of brain tumors really increasing? A population-based analysis from a cancer registry. J Neuro-Oncol 104:589–594CrossRef
32.
Gigineishvili D, Gigineishvili T, Tsiskaridze A et al (2014) Incidence rates of the primary brain tumours in Georgia--a population-based study. BMC Neurol 14:29CrossRef
33.
Rozen T, Swidan SZ (2007) Elevation of CSF tumor necrosis factor alpha levels in new daily persistent headache and treatment refractory chronic migraine. Headache 47:1050–1055CrossRef
34.
Sarchielli P, Alberti A, Baldi A et al (2006) Proinflammatory cytokines, adhesion molecules, and lymphocyte integrin expression in the internal jugular blood of migraine patients without aura assessed ictally. Headache 46:200–207CrossRef
35.
Tao T, Cheng C, Ji Y et al (2012) Numbl inhibits glioma cell migration and invasion by suppressing TRAF5-mediated NF-kappaB activation. Mol Biol Cell 23:2635–2644CrossRef
36.
Huang H, Lung HL, Leung KN et al (1998) Selective induction of tumor necrosis factor receptor type II gene expression by tumor necrosis factor-alpha in C6 glioma cells. Life Sci 62:889–896CrossRef
37.
Fajardo LF, Kwan HH, Kowalski J et al (1992) Dual role of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in angiogenesis. Am J Pathol 140:539–544PubMedPubMedCentral
38.
Balkwill F (2006) TNF-alpha in promotion and progression of cancer. Cancer Metastasis Rev 25:409–416CrossRef
39.
Ryu J, Ku BM, Lee YK et al (2011) Resveratrol reduces TNF-alpha-induced U373MG human glioma cell invasion through regulating NF-kappaB activation and uPA/uPAR expression. Anticancer Res 31:4223–4230PubMed
40.
41.
Bigal ME, Serrano D, Reed M et al (2008) Chronic migraine in the population: burden, diagnosis, and satisfaction with treatment. Neurology 71:559–566CrossRef
42.
Chen TJ, Chou LF, Hwang SJ (2006) Patterns of ambulatory care utilization in Taiwan. BMC Health Serv Res 6:54CrossRef
43.
Bondy ML, Scheurer ME, Malmer B et al (2008) Brain tumor epidemiology: consensus from the brain tumor epidemiology consortium. Cancer 113:1953–1968CrossRef
44.
Wrensch M, Minn Y, Chew T et al (2002) Epidemiology of primary brain tumors: current concepts and review of the literature. Neuro-Oncology 4:278–299CrossRef
Metadata
Title
Association of migraines with brain tumors: a nationwide population-based study
Authors
Chao-Hung Chen
Jau-Jiuan Sheu
Yi-Chun Lin
Herng-Ching Lin
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
Springer Milan
Published in
The Journal of Headache and Pain / Issue 1/2018
Print ISSN: 1129-2369
Electronic ISSN: 1129-2377
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s10194-018-0944-1

Other articles of this Issue 1/2018

The Journal of Headache and Pain 1/2018 Go to the issue

Research article

Psychological distress, neuroticism and disability associated with secondary chronic headache in the general population – the Akershus study of chronic headache

Research article

Intracortical facilitation within the migraine motor cortex depends on the stimulation intensity. A paired-pulse TMS study

Consensus article

Latest clinical recommendations on valproate use for migraine prophylaxis in women of childbearing age: overview from European Medicines Agency and European Headache Federation

Research article

Implications for the migraine SNP rs1835740 in a Swedish cluster headache population

Review article

Male and female sex hormones in primary headaches

Research article

Gender differences in functional connectivities between insular subdivisions and selective pain-related brain structures