Allergic Reactions May Guard Against Brain Cancer
"Studies have found that people with atopic or allergic diseases – asthma, hay fever or eczema – show a reduced risk of being diagnosed with a primary brain tumour called a glioma. These tumours are notoriously deadly: just 3% of people with the most common form live five years beyond diagnosis."
Eleni Linos, from Harvard School of Public Health, conducted a study with several patients trying to confirm this relationship between allergic reactions and brain cancer. He found that the patients with histories of allergies were 39% less likely to be diagnosed with glioma--a very deadly brain tumor. This percentage was enough for Linos to be highly excited about the negative correlation between brain tumors and allergic reactions.
"This is just so tremendously encouraging for those working on immune-based treatments, since it implies that once a cancer is detected or established, it isn't too late to start trying to do something about it with immunotherapy," he says.
However, there is a counterargument to this finding in that maybe the brain tumors are the reason for why there is a decrease in allergic reactions, rather than the allergic reactions decreasing the risk of brain tumors. Judith Shwartzbaum of Ohio University points out that gliomas are known to be potent suppressors of the immune system. She notes, "I am still not completely convinced that it's not the tumour suppressing the allergy."
I found this article particularly interesting mainly because of the debate of whether or not the cancer is suppressing the allergies or if the allergies are suppressing the cancer. It is basically asking the question: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Although both sides may have a significant evidence for each argument, it is still not certain what the cause is. Cancer is a very challenging, but interesting, subject due mostly to our lack or knowledge on where all of these types of cancers emerge. However, it is very clear that everyone is doing everything in their power to overtake this challenge, which is why this article caught my attention.
This article can be found at:
http://media.newscientist.com/article/dn12765-allergic-reactions-may-guard-against-brain-cancer.html
Eleni Linos, from Harvard School of Public Health, conducted a study with several patients trying to confirm this relationship between allergic reactions and brain cancer. He found that the patients with histories of allergies were 39% less likely to be diagnosed with glioma--a very deadly brain tumor. This percentage was enough for Linos to be highly excited about the negative correlation between brain tumors and allergic reactions.
"This is just so tremendously encouraging for those working on immune-based treatments, since it implies that once a cancer is detected or established, it isn't too late to start trying to do something about it with immunotherapy," he says.
However, there is a counterargument to this finding in that maybe the brain tumors are the reason for why there is a decrease in allergic reactions, rather than the allergic reactions decreasing the risk of brain tumors. Judith Shwartzbaum of Ohio University points out that gliomas are known to be potent suppressors of the immune system. She notes, "I am still not completely convinced that it's not the tumour suppressing the allergy."
I found this article particularly interesting mainly because of the debate of whether or not the cancer is suppressing the allergies or if the allergies are suppressing the cancer. It is basically asking the question: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Although both sides may have a significant evidence for each argument, it is still not certain what the cause is. Cancer is a very challenging, but interesting, subject due mostly to our lack or knowledge on where all of these types of cancers emerge. However, it is very clear that everyone is doing everything in their power to overtake this challenge, which is why this article caught my attention.
This article can be found at:
http://media.newscientist.com/article/dn12765-allergic-reactions-may-guard-against-brain-cancer.html
posted by JadeKumar at 11:11 AM
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