Genetics and Health

Genes for Asthma or Allergies Associated With Lower Cancer Risk

by Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD on July 20th, 2005

Before genomic technology became commonplace in laboratories, most public health researchers relied on questionnaires to collect information on risk factors related to disease. Now, no study of disease is complete without a bank of DNA from study participants. Recently, one of the first studies of asthma and allergy to include genetic information has found an interesting link between brain cancer risk and cytokine genes involved in asthma and allergies. (Medical News Today, July 17, 2005)

Researchers found that people with specific polymorphisms on two genes associated with higher risk of asthma and allergies, IL-4RA and IL-13, had a lower risk of glioblastoma multiforme, the most common form of brain cancer. In the immune system, IL-4RA and IL-13 are chemical messengers (cytokines) that cause inflammation in the lungs. Paradoxically, these cytokines may inhibit inflammation in the brain, which could block tumor growth.

I was perplexed last month when it was found that parents with major depression or panic attacks tend to have kids who suffer from atopic disorders, such as hay fever, respiratory allergies, eczema, wheezing, food allergies and asthma. With the data from this study of specific genes, however, it becomes even more obvious that the human body is a complex system of interrelated, although sometimes opposite, pathways.

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POSTED IN: Genetics of Disease