Hay Fever, Allergies Linked to Lower Ovarian, Cervical Cancer Rates: Presented at ACAAI

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Title: Hay Fever, Allergies Linked to Lower Ovarian, Cervical Cancer Rates: Presented at ACAAI
URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/2173DE.htm
Doctor's Guide
November 15, 2007

By Carole Bullock

DALLAS, TX -- November 15, 2007 -- Cervical and ovarian cancers are found less frequently among people who have hay fever, compared to their hay-fever-free counterparts, investigators reported here at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) 65th annual meeting.

The results of the cross-sectional prevalence study were presented on November 14 by Terese Tran, DO, Resident Physician, Texas Tech University Heath Center (TTUHC), Paul L Foster School of Medicine, El Paso, Texas, United States.

The study of 1,132,206 women, 20 years or older, whose records were part of large database on state wide admissions for cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancers in 2001, examined the link between asthma, hay fever, and allergic rhinitis, and the 3 cancers. Patients who had asthma only (not with hay fever) and patients with hay fever only (not with asthma) were compared with patients who did not have either. The study adjusted for confounders such as age, multiparty, and smoking.

"Hay fever sufferers had 91% lower odds of having ovarian cancer (adjusted prevalence odds ratios [POR] = 0.09, P =.02])," said Dr. Tran. Patients with asthma had a 44% reduction in the odds of having cervical cancer noted in their discharge summary compared with patients free of asthma and hay fever (adjusted POR = 0.56, P <.0001). Patients with asthma were also found to be less likely to have endometrial or ovarian cancer.

Senior author, Zuber Mulla, DO, Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, TTUHS, said, the large hospital database provided the opportunity to explore risk factors for cancer. "Our findings come from an observational study, and we can't explain the mechanism of the associations. We do know that cytokines, which are elevated in allergic condition, might have a cancer-protective effect," he said in an interview.

No funding was provided for the study and the authors have no disclosures.

[Presentation title: Allergic Conditions and Malignant Gynecologic Tumors: A Populations-Based Study. Abstract 14]

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