Top

Published in:

01-10-2007 | Original Paper

The effect of atopy, childhood crowding, and other immune-related factors on non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk

Authors: W. Cozen, J. R. Cerhan, O. Martinez-Maza, M. H. Ward, M. Linet, J. S. Colt, S. Davis, R. K. Severson, P. Hartge, L. Bernstein

Published in: Cancer Causes & Control | Issue 8/2007

Abstract

Objective

Since adult immune responsiveness is influenced by early childhood exposures, we examined the role of family size, history of atopic disease, and other childhood immune-related exposures in a multi-center case–control study of NHL.

Methods

Interviews were completed with 1,321 cases ascertained from population-based cancer registries in Seattle, Detroit, Los Angeles and Iowa, and with 1,057 frequency-matched controls, selected by random-digit dialing and from the Medicare files database. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate risk.

Results

A history of any allergy (excluding drug allergies), decreased risk of all NHL (Odds Ratio [OR] = 0.7, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 0.6–1.0), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma [DLBCL] (OR = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.4–0.9), and follicular NHL (OR = 0.7, 95 CI = 0.5, 1.0). A similar effect was observed for hay fever. A history of eczema was associated with an increased risk of follicular lymphoma (OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.1–3.4), but not DLBCL (OR = 1.1, 95% CI = 0.6–2.0). Asthma did not affect risk. Youngest compared to oldest siblings had a 90% increased risk of DLBCL (95% CI = 1.2–3.1; p for trend with increasing birth order = 0.006), but not follicular lymphoma (OR = 1.1, 95% CI = 0.6–1.8).

Conclusions

We infer that some childhood and immune-related factors may alter NHL risk.

Grulich A, Vajdic C (2005) The epidemiology of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Pathol 37:409–419CrossRef

Martinez F, Holt P (1999) Role of microbial burden in aetiology of allergy and asthma. Lancet 354(suppl II):12–15

Bernstein L, Ross R (1992) Prior medication use and health history as risk factors for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma: preliminary results from a case-control study in Los Angeles County. Cancer Res 52:5510s–5515sPubMed

Doody M, Linet M, Glass A et al (1992) Leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma following selected medical conditions. Cancer Causes Contr 3:449–456CrossRef

Holly E, Chitra L (1997) Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in HIV-positive and HIV-negative homosexual men in the San Francisco Bay area: Allergies, prior medication use, and sexual practices. J AIDS 15:211–222

Holly E, Lele C, Bracci P et al (1999) Case-control study of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma among women and heterosexual men in the San Francisco Bay area, California. Am J Epidemiol 150:375–389PubMed

Vineis P, Crosignani P, Sacerdote C et al (2000) Haematopoietic cancer and medical history: a multicentre case control study. J Epidemiol Community Health 54:4331–4436

Tavani A, La Vecchia C, Franchesci S (2000) Medical history and the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 1:533–6

Briggs N, Levine R, Brann E (2002) Allergies and risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma by subtype. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 11:401–407PubMed

10.

Holly E, Bracci P (2003) Population-based study of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, histology and medical history among human immunodeficiency virus-negative participants in San Francisco. Am J Epidemiol 158:316–327PubMedCrossRef

11.

Grulich A, Vajdic C, Kaldor J et al (2004) Birth order, atopy, and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. JNCI 97:587–594

12.

Bracci P, Dalvi T, Holly E (2006) Residential history, family characteristics and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a population-based case-control study in the San Francisco Bay area. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 15:1287–1294PubMedCrossRef

13.

Zhang Y, Holdford T, Leaderer B et al (2004) Prior medical conditions and medication use and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Connecticut, United States women. Cancer Causes Contr 15:419–428CrossRef

14.

Melbye M, Smedby K, Lehtinen T et al (2007) Atopy and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. JNCI 99:158–166PubMed

15.

Becker N, Deeg E, Rudiger T et al (2005) Medical history and risk for lymphoma: results of a population-based case-control study in Germany. Eur J Cancer 41:133–142PubMedCrossRef

16.

Strachan D (1989) Hay fever, hygiene and household size. Br Med J 299:1259–1260

17.

Strachan D, Taylor E, Carpenter R (1996) Family structure, neonatal infection and hay fever in adolescence. Arch Dis Child 74:422–426PubMedCrossRef

18.

Westergaard T, Melbye M, Pedersen J et al (1997) Birth order, sibship size and risk of Hodgkin’s disease in children and young adults: A population-based study of 31 million person-years. Int J Cancer 72:977–981PubMedCrossRef

19.

Gutensohn N, Cole P (1997) Epidemiology of Hodgkin’s disease in the young. Int J Cancer 19:595–604CrossRef

20.

Greaves M (2006) Infection, immune responses, aetiology of childhood leukaemia. Nat Rev Cancer 6:193–203PubMedCrossRef

21.

Vineis P, Miligi L, Crosignani P et al (2000) Delayed infection, family size and malignant lymphoma. J Epidemiol Community Health 54:907–911PubMedCrossRef

22.

Alitieri A, Castro F, Bermejo J et al Number of siblings and their risk of lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma by histopathology. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 15:1281–1286

23.

Becker N, Deeg E, Nieters A (2004) Population-based study of lymphoma in Germany: rationale, study design and first results. Leukemia Res 28:713–724CrossRef

24.

Ries L, Eisner M, Kosary C et al (2004) SEER cancer statistics review, 1975–2001. National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

25.

Percy C, Van Holten V, Muir C (eds) (1990) International classification of diseases for oncology, 2nd edn. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

26.

Fritz A, Percy C, Jack A et al (eds) (2000) International classification of diseases for oncology, 3rd edn. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

27.

Casady R, Lepkowski J (1993) Stratified telephone survey designs. Survey Method 19:103–113

28.

Kogevinas M, Zock J-P, Alvaro T et al (2004) Occupational exposure to immunologically active agents and risk for lymphoma. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 13:1814–1818PubMed

29.

Mills P, Beeson W, Fraser G et al (1992) Allergy and cancer: Organ-site specific results from the Adventist Health Study. Am J Epidemiol 136:287–95PubMed

30.

Wang H, Diepgen T (2005) Is atopy a protective or a risk factor for cancer? A review of epidemiologic studies. Allergy 60:1098–1111PubMedCrossRef

31.

Lindelof B, Granath F, Tengvall-Linder M et al (2005) Allergy and cancer. Allergy 60:1116–1120PubMedCrossRef

32.

Eriksson N, Holmen A, Hogstedt B et al (1995) A prospective study of cancer incidence in a cohort examined for allergy. Allergy 50:718–722PubMedCrossRef

33.

McWhorter W (1998) Allergy and risk of cancer: A prospective study using NHANESI followup data. Cancer 62:451–455CrossRef

34.

Talbot-Smith A, Fritschi L, Divtini M et al (2003) Allergy, atopy and cancer: A prospective study of the 1981 Busselton cohort. Am J Epidemiol 157:606–612PubMedCrossRef

35.

Soderberg KC, Hagmar K, Schwartzbaum J, Feychting M (2004) Allergic conditions and risk of hematologic malignancies in adults: a cohort study. BMC Public Health 4:51–57PubMedCrossRef

36.

Engels E (2007) Infectious agents as causes of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 16:401–404PubMedCrossRef

37.

Jarrett R (2006) Viruses and lymphoma/leukemia. J Pathol 208:176–86PubMedCrossRef

38.

Blaser M, Nomura A, Lee J, Stemmerman G, Perez-Perez G (2007) Early-life family structure and microbially induced cancer risk. PLOSMed 4:53–8

39.

Karmus W, Arshad S, Sadeghnejad A et al (2004) Does maternal immunoglobulin E decrease with increasing order of live offspring? Clin Exp Allergy 34:853–859CrossRef

40.

Green M, Zaadie Y (1989) Sibship size as a risk factor for Hepatitis A infection. Am J Epidemiol 129:800–805PubMed

41.

Downs S, Marks G, Mitakakis T et al (2001) Having lived on a farm and protection against allergic diseases in Australia. Clin Exp Allergy 3:570–575CrossRef

42.

von Mutius E, Braun-Fahrlander C, Schierl R et al (2000) Exposure to endotoxin or other bacterial components might protect against the development of atopy. Clin Exp Allergy 30:1230–1234CrossRef

43.

Lauener R, Birchler T, Adamski J et al (2002) Expression of CD14 and Toll-like receptor 2 in farmer’s children. Lancet 360:465–466PubMedCrossRef

44.

Nieters A, Beckmann L, Deeg E et al (2006) Gene polymorphisms in Toll-like receptors, interleukin-10, and receptor alpha and lymphoma risk. Genes Immunity 7:615–624PubMedCrossRef

45.

Forrest M, Skibola C, Lightfoot T et al (2006) Polymorphisms in innate immunity genes and risk of lymphoma. Br J Haematol 134:180–183PubMedCrossRef

46.

McCormick D, Ammann A, Ishizaka K et al (1971) A study of allergy in patients with malignant lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Cancer 27:93–99PubMedCrossRef

47.

Bahna S, Heiner D, Myhre B (1983) Immunoglobulin E pattern in cigarette smokers. Allergy 38:57–64PubMedCrossRef

48.

Harbison S, Robinson W (2002) Policy implications of the next world demographic transition. Studies Family Planning 33:37–48CrossRef

49.

Weitzman M, Gortmaker S, Sobol A et al (1992) Recent trends in the prevalence and severity of childhood asthma. JAMA 268:2673–2677PubMedCrossRef

50.

Cozen W, Gill P, Ingles S et al (2004) IL-6 levels and genotype are associated with risk of young adult Hodgkin lymphoma. Blood 103:3216–3221PubMedCrossRef

Title: The effect of atopy, childhood crowding, and other immune-related factors on non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk
Authors: W. Cozen
J. R. Cerhan
O. Martinez-Maza
M. H. Ward
M. Linet
J. S. Colt
S. Davis
R. K. Severson
P. Hartge
L. Bernstein
Publication date: 01-10-2007
Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers
Published in: Cancer Causes & Control / Issue 8/2007
Print ISSN: 0957-5243
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7225
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-007-9025-5

Webinar | 19-02-2024 | 17:30 (CET)

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on antibody–drug conjugates in cancer

Watch now

Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are novel agents that have shown promise across multiple tumor types. Explore the current landscape of ADCs in breast and lung cancer with our experts, and gain insights into the mechanism of action, key clinical trials data, existing challenges, and future directions.

Dr. Véronique Diéras

Prof. Fabrice Barlesi

Developed by: Springer Medicine

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 8/2007

Declines in breast cancer after the WHI: apparent impact of hormone therapy

Pancreatic cancer and medical history in a population-based case–control study in the San Francisco Bay Area, California

Lack of evidence for effect modification by estrogen of association between body mass index and colorectal cancer risk among postmenopausal women

Consumption of soy foods and the risk of breast cancer: findings from the Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) Study

Urinary tract diseases and bladder cancer risk: a case–control study

Health behaviors of cancer survivors: data from an Australian population-based survey

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on antibody–drug conjugates in cancer