TY - JOUR
T1 - Atopy and prostate cancer
T2 - Is there a link between circulating levels of IgE and PSA in humans?
AU - Van Hemelrijck, Mieke
AU - Karagiannis, Sophia N.
AU - Rohrmann, Sabine
PY - 2017/8/9
Y1 - 2017/8/9
N2 - BACKGROUND: Atopy has been investigated as a potential risk factor for prostate cancer. IgE antibodies may be major players in protective responses against tumours, through engendering antigen presentation and enhancing adaptive immune responses targeted towards a specific allergen, but potentially also against tumour-associated antigens such as prostate-specific antigen (PSA). We therefore cross-sectionally investigated associations between circulating levels of PSA and IgE in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2006.METHODS: We focused on all men aged 40+ years with measurements for PSA and IgE, and no previous diagnosis of prostate cancer (n = 1312). We estimated the association between total and specific IgE concentration and levels of PSA with logistic regression models, adjusted for age, ethnicity/race, education, smoking status, body mass index (BMI), physical activity status, and history of asthma.RESULTS: Both total IgE and the sum of specific IgE were inversely associated with the risk of having PSA levels ≥10 ng/mL, though most findings were not statistically significant. The odds ratios for the second and third tertile of total IgE as compared to the first were 0.21 (95% CI 0.06-0.72) and 0.42 (0.08-2.31). The odds ratio for sum of abnormal specific IgE measurements was 0.77 (0.44-1.34).CONCLUSION: Despite statistical insignificance, the observed trend warrants further research given the increasing evidence of the role of atopy and IgE antibodies in protective responses against tumours. A lifecourse approach of measuring IgE, specific subtypes, and other markers of the humoral immune system (i.e. IgG) could shed more light on its potential anti-cancer characteristics.
AB - BACKGROUND: Atopy has been investigated as a potential risk factor for prostate cancer. IgE antibodies may be major players in protective responses against tumours, through engendering antigen presentation and enhancing adaptive immune responses targeted towards a specific allergen, but potentially also against tumour-associated antigens such as prostate-specific antigen (PSA). We therefore cross-sectionally investigated associations between circulating levels of PSA and IgE in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2006.METHODS: We focused on all men aged 40+ years with measurements for PSA and IgE, and no previous diagnosis of prostate cancer (n = 1312). We estimated the association between total and specific IgE concentration and levels of PSA with logistic regression models, adjusted for age, ethnicity/race, education, smoking status, body mass index (BMI), physical activity status, and history of asthma.RESULTS: Both total IgE and the sum of specific IgE were inversely associated with the risk of having PSA levels ≥10 ng/mL, though most findings were not statistically significant. The odds ratios for the second and third tertile of total IgE as compared to the first were 0.21 (95% CI 0.06-0.72) and 0.42 (0.08-2.31). The odds ratio for sum of abnormal specific IgE measurements was 0.77 (0.44-1.34).CONCLUSION: Despite statistical insignificance, the observed trend warrants further research given the increasing evidence of the role of atopy and IgE antibodies in protective responses against tumours. A lifecourse approach of measuring IgE, specific subtypes, and other markers of the humoral immune system (i.e. IgG) could shed more light on its potential anti-cancer characteristics.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85027101548&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00262-017-2048-1
DO - 10.1007/s00262-017-2048-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 28795218
SN - 0340-7004
SP - 1
EP - 6
JO - Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy
JF - Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy
ER -
