Atopic diseases and oncopathology. What do they have in common? A review

Abstract

The increasing prevalence of cancer worldwide has influenced the interest of researchers to search for factors that may trigger oncogenesis in order to prevent and treat cancer. There is a burning question, can allergic diseases cause or prevent cancer? Numerous epidemiological studies have been conducted that have evaluated aspects of the relationship between allergic diseases and the occurrence of cancers of various localizations. The results of most of these studies are inconsistent, both in the nature of the course of the disease and in the variety of localizations of the occurrence of cancer. In this connection, two basic theories were suggested: the theory of immune surveillance and the theory of inflammation. This review analyzed current scientific work to estimate the incidence of neoplasms against the background of atopic diseases. The analysis of clinical studies shows inconsistent results of the association between allergic diseases and cancer. Several studies an inverse relationship between atopic diseases and cancer risk, which supports the theory of immune surveillance [brain tumor (glioma), pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and breast cancer, cancer of the mouth and throat, larynx]. At the same time, a number of studies note a positive association between atopic diseases and cancer, which confirms the theory of chronic inflammation (lung cancer and colorectal cancer combined with bronchial asthma). The lack of an unequivocal explanation testifies to the urgency of long-term prospective studies aimed at studying the risk factors of cancer in combination with atopic diseases with the subsequent development of risk scale for the purpose of patient stratification, screening, development of early detection programs and new approaches to the treatment of malignant neoplasms.