Cancer
incidence in 13811 adult patients skin tested for
allergy
Nils
E Eriksson*, Lars
Hagmar**, Zoli Mikoczy** *Lung and allergy clinic, County hospital, Halmstad,
Sweden. **Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University
Hospital, Lund, Sweden
Several
studies have shown a negative correlation between cancer and atopy‑related
diseases. There are also a few reports of a positive relationship. We wanted to
further evaluate these relationships in a prospective study. Method. The
incidence of malignant diseases among adult patients with atopy‑related
diseases (asthma, rhinitis, urticaria, eczema etc), who had been skin prick
tested during 1976‑1999 (n=13811) was compared with the incidence in a
control group. Expected cancer incidence from the date of skin prick testing up
to 1999 was obtained from cause‑, sex‑, calendar‑year‑,
and 5‑year‑ age‑group specific incidence rates for the county.
These rates were calculated from cancer incidence and population counts obtained
from the Swedish National Tumor Registry. The 95 % confidence intervals (CIs)
for cause‑specific standardized cancer incidence ratios (SIRs) were
calculated. Skin prick tests were performed with Dermatophagoides
pteronyssinus, horse, dog, cat, timothy, mugwort, birch, and Cladosporium.
An allergen‑induced wheal of the same size as that induced by the
positive control was recorded as 3 + and a wheal half the size of 3 + was
recorded as 2 + . Patients having one or several positive skin prick test
reactions(>2+) were regarded as atopics. Results. Among 6224 atopic
individuals 119 cases of cancer occurred (SIR 1.0) and among 6358 non-atopics
216 cases (SIR 0.94, CI 0.82‑1.08). No significant under‑risks were
noted for any specific diagnosis. Among atopic men, however, there were four
cases of Hodgkin lymphomas (SIR 4,0, 95 % CI 1‑10,32), and among atopic
women four cases of Non‑Hodgkin‑lymphomas (SIR 4,52, 95 % CI
1,23‑11,58). Among women with asthma or rhinitis, the incidence of acute
myeloic leukemia was increases (five cases, SIR 4,38, 95 % CI 1,42‑10,2
Conclusion. This study does not support the hypothesis of an inverse
relationship between cancer and atopic diseases
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Nils E Eriksson