Abstract
PurposeThere are indications that a history of allergy may offer some protection against cancer. We studied the relation of three objectively determined allergy markers with cancer mortality and hospitalization risk.MethodsAssociations between three allergy markers (number of peripheral blood eosinophil counts, skin test positivity, and serum total IgE) with mortality and hospitalization from any type and four common types of cancer (lung, colorectal, prostate, and breast cancer) were assessed in the Vlagtwedde–Vlaardingen cohort (1965–1990), with follow-up of mortality until 31 December 2008. Hospitalization data were available since 1 January 1995.ResultsThere were no significant associations between objective allergy markers and cancer mortality or hospitalization. We found several associations in specific subgroups. A higher number of eosinophils was associated with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer mortality in ever smokers HR (95 % CI) = 0.61 (0.45–0.83) and in males 0.59 (0.42–0.83); however, no overall association was observed 0.84 (0.64–1.09). Skin test positivity was associated with a decreased risk of any cancer mortality only among females 0.59 (0.38–0.91) and showed no overall association 0.83 (0.67–1.04). Serum total IgE levels were associated with an increased risk of lung cancer mortality among females 4.64 (1.04–20.70), but with a decreased risk of cancer hospitalization in ever smokers 0.77 (0.61–0.97) and males 0.72 (0.55–0.93); however, no overall associations were observed [mortality 0.99 (0.79–1.25), and hospitalization 0.86 (0.71–1.04)].ConclusionsWe found no associations between objective allergy markers and cancer in the total population. However, skin test positivity and a high number of eosinophils were associated with a reduced risk to die of cancer in specific subgroups. Hence, it seems important to study specific subgroups defined by gender and smoking habits in order to identify allergy markers of predictive value for cancer mortality.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10552-014-0489-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
There are indications of an inverse association between a history of allergy and cancer [1,2,3], suggesting that allergies may offer some protection against cancer in general
Serum total Immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels were associated with an increased risk of lung cancer mortality among females 4.64 (1.04–20.70), but with a decreased risk of cancer hospitalization in ever smokers 0.77 (0.61–0.97) and males 0.72 (0.55–0.93); no overall associations were observed [mortality 0.99 (0.79–1.25), and hospitalization 0.86 (0.71–1.04)]
We found no significant association between number of eosinophils and cancer mortality or cancer hospitalization (Table 3; Fig. 2a)
Summary
There are indications of an inverse association between a history of allergy and cancer [1,2,3], suggesting that allergies may offer some protection against cancer in general. Some studies have reported a negative association between allergy and cancer, supporting the immune surveillance theory [1,2,3], while others show a positive [5, 6] or no general association [4]. A theory that is often used to explain increased risk of specific cancers associated with allergy is the ‘antigenic stimulation theory.’. It suggests that inflammatory conditions associated with allergic diseases may induce the oxidative damage, resulting in tumor suppressor gene mutations in proteins involved in DNA repair or apoptotic control, may increase the development of cancer [7, 8]. Besides the above-mentioned mechanism, there is an emerging evidence for an important role of T-helper 2 (TH2) immune skewing in the association between allergy and cancer [8]
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