Rich Or Poor? Where You Begin Life Affects Cancer Risk In Adulthood

Newswise, October 17, 2016—Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah announced today the results of a study that found that circumstances in childhood, such as parental occupation at birth and neighborhood income, might be associated with different risks of certain cancers later in life.

HCI researchers and collaborators at Rutgers University in New Jersey and Temple University Health System in Philadelphia analyzed cancer risk and socioeconomic status (SES) of baby boomers (for this study, those born during 1945 – 1959,) in two Utah counties.

Children born to parents with high occupational standing faced higher risks of melanoma (a serious form of skin cancer) and prostate cancer and, for women, greater risks of breast cancer.

The study also found that for those born in neighborhoods with low socioeconomic status in relation to those from high status neighborhoods, women faced greater risks of invasive cervical cancer.

In these low SES neighborhoods, men faced lower risks of prostate cancer, and overall (both sexes) the risk of melanoma was lower.

The researchers used the Utah Population Database (UPDB), a unique computerized research resource that contains records from many sources, including genealogies, Utah birth and death certificates, hospitalization records, and driver’s license data, to analyze cancer incidence of the study group.

The study evaluated data from individuals who were born in Salt Lake and Weber Counties during 1945-1959 and who survived and lived in Utah until at least age 18.

Demographic data were linked to cancer incidence information catalogued in the Utah Cancer Registry to evaluate cancer trends in the general population compared to the study group.

According to the senior author Ken Smith, Ph.D., a population health researcher at Huntsman Cancer Institute and a distinguished professor of family studies and population science at the University of Utah, “This study shows that early-life socioeconomic status, based on factors such as parental occupation at birth, may be associated with cancer risk in adulthood.

“Using this information, we may be able to identify individuals who are at higher risk for cancer due to socioeconomic status at birth, and ideally, work to find strategies to help them manage their cancer risk in adulthood.”

Smith noted that the association between SES and breast, cervical, and prostate cancer might reflect SES differences in participation in cancer screening.

He also said the importance of critical periods in a child’s development may be affected by exposures and living conditions that can lay the foundation for later cancer risk and contribute to social differences in cancer risk.

The results of this study were published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, and Prevention on Sept. 21, 2016.

Funding for this study was provided by the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program through a contract with the Utah Cancer Registry #HHSN261201000026C, which is also supported by the Utah Department of Health and the University of Utah. Further funding was provided by the National Cancer Institute P30 CA042014 grant and the Huntsman Cancer Foundation.

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About Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah
Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) is one of the world’s top academic research and cancer treatment centers. HCI manages the Utah Population Database - the largest genetic database in the world, with more than 16 million records linked to genealogies, health records, and vital statistics. Using this data, HCI researchers have identified several cancer-causing genes, including the genes responsible for melanoma, colon and breast cancer. HCI is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (a 27-member alliance of the world's leading cancer centers) and is a National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. HCI treats patients with all forms of cancer and operates several high-risk clinics that focus on melanoma and breast, colon, and pancreas cancers. The HCI Cancer Learning Center for patient and public education contains one of the nation's largest collections of cancer-related publications. The institute is named after Jon M. Huntsman, a Utah philanthropist, industrialist, and cancer survivor.

Study Contradicts Myth That Cancer Protects Against Alzheimer’s

Newswise, May 6, 2016 – Despite studies that claim people with cancer are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease--raising the possibility that what triggers cancer also prevents the neurodegenerative disorder--a new investigation finds a more somber explanation. Many cancer patients don’t live long enough to get Alzheimer’s.

The research, led by investigators at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, was published in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B.

“Diagnosis of age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, depends on someone surviving to an age when disease onset can occur,” explains lead author Heidi Hanson, Ph.D., M.S., a Huntsman Cancer Institute research associate and research assistant professor of family and preventive medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

Illustrating the concept, Hanson and her colleagues examined data from pancreatic cancer patients, whose average age of death is 73, the same age at which Alzheimer’s is typically diagnosed.

While the rate of Alzheimer’s diagnoses tripled as the cancer-free population aged from 75 to 89 years old (increasing from 25 to 75 per 1,000), it remained constant in patients with pancreatic cancer (20 per 1,000).

Concluding that pancreatic cancer protects against Alzheimer’s disease is similar to saying that gunshots prevent Alzheimer’s, says senior author and Huntsman Cancer Institute investigator Ken Smith, Ph.D., distinguished professor of family and consumer studies and population science.

“People who are shot rarely get Alzheimer’s because most of them die before they have the chance to. But no one would say that gunshot wounds protect against the disease.”

He adds that analyses need to consider that as people age, they are more likely to be affected by any of a number of conditions. Those dying of lethal diseases simply lack the time to develop another illness.

With this in mind, the researchers conducted their own evaluation, examining data from 92,245 individuals with and without cancer from the Utah Population Database, a comprehensive set of demographic, medical, and other records.

The group was between the ages of 65 and 79 in 1992, and had no record of dementia. Their data was followed for at least 18 additional years to determine how many were later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, as indicated by Medicare claims data.

Contrary to previous studies, three different statistical methods showed that those with cancer did not have a decreased risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Each method factored in higher rates of death among cancer patients in a slightly different way.

To test the idea further, the team tracked two groups of patients with prostate cancer.

If cancer provides protection from Alzheimer’s disease, says Smith, groups of patients with the same type of cancer would be equally likely to get the brain disorder.

Yet they found that patients with a shortened life expectancy due to metastasized prostate cancer trended toward a decreased risk for Alzheimer’s as compared to patients with early-stage prostate cancer. After adjusting for mortality, they determined that the observed difference was not statistically significant.

“These results call into question a protective association between cancer and Alzheimer’s,” says Hanson. “If we are going to understand aging-related diseases, we need to consider how other chronic diseases and conditions impact them.”

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, P30 CAO42014, Huntsman Cancer Institute, and a K12 award from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

In addition to Hanson and Smith, co-authors are Kevin Horn, Kelli Rasmussen, and John Hoffman from Huntsman Cancer Institute. “Is Cancer Protective for Subsequent Alzheimer’s Disease Risk? Evidence From the Utah Population Database” was published in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B.