Huntingtons disease lowers cancer risk

People with Huntingtons disease a debilitating brain condition appear have a quotprotectionquot from cancer according to a study in Sweden

Nearly 40 years of medical records showed patients with Huntingtons had half the normal expected risk of developing tumours

Researchers writing in The Lancet Oncology said the reason was unclear

Cancer Research UK said the findings presented another avenue to explore in tackling cancer

Academics at Lund University analysed Swedish hospital data from 1969 to 2008 They found 1510 patients with Huntingtons disease

During the study period 91 of those patients subsequently developed cancer The authors said that was 53 lower than the levels expected for the general population

Huntingtons is one of a group of illnesses called quotpolyglutamine diseasesquot Data from other polyglutamine diseases also showed lower levels of cancer

The authors said quotWe found that the incidence of cancer was significantly lower among patients with polyglutamine diseases than in the general population

quotThe mechanisms behind the protective effects against cancer are unclear and further research is warrantedquot

Dr Jianguang Ji from the Center for Primary Health Care Research at Lund University told the BBC quotClarification of the mechanism underlying the link between polyglutamine diseases and cancer in the future could lead to the development of new treatment options for cancerquot

Eleanor Barrie senior science information officer at Cancer Research UK said quotThese are interesting results Its not clear how the genetic changes that cause Huntingtons and other similar diseases could protect against cancer and research in the lab will help to find out more

quotScientists at Cancer Research UK and around the world are probing the genetic faults that contribute to cancer in their quest to beat the disease and this is another potential avenue to explorequot

Date : 12 Apr, 2012
Reference : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17678587

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