Could Asthma Lower Brain Cancer Risk?

People with a history of respiratory allergies, asthma, and eczema have a lower risk of developing glioma brain cancer, according to a recent study.

In an effort to verify previous findings about how glioma risk is associated with respiratory allergy status, asthma, and eczema, researchers analyzed the records of 4533 patients with glioma and 4171 control cases in the Glioma International Case-Control Study.
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After analyzing the data, researchers found that those with respiratory allergies had a 30% lower risk of developing glioma when compared with those who didn’t have respiratory allergies. In addition, asthma and eczema also lowered patients’ risk.

“A substantial amount of data on the inverse association between atopic conditions and glioma has accumulated, and findings from the GICC study further strengthen the existing evidence that the relationship between atopy and glioma is unlikely to be coincidental,” researchers concluded.

Researchers also note that future research can focus on the underlying cause of the association in order to improve cancer treatments and prevention methods.

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Amirian ES, Zhou R, Wrensch MR, et al.  Approaching a scientific consensus on the association between allergies and glioma risk: A report from the glioma international case-control study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. Published online February 5, 2016. doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-15-0847.