Asthma/Allergy Patients Less Likely to Die from Cancer?

Whereas individuals may not enjoy havingasthma or hay fever, having these conditionsmay reduce the overall risk of dyingfrom cancer, compared with individualswith neither of these allergic conditions.The results of the study were based ondata from the American Cancer SocietyCancer Prevention Study II.

The researchers found that participantswith histories of both asthma and hay feverwere 12% less apt to die from cancer. Thepatients with hay fever alone lowered theirchances by 8%, and in patients with asthmaand/or hay fever the risk was reducedby 6%. The study indicated a lower risk ofdeath from leukemia but a higher risk ofdeath from lung cancer in patients with ahistory of asthma. A history of hay feveronly was associated with a dramaticallylower risk of pancreatic cancer death. (Thefindings were reported in the AmericanJournal of Epidemiology, August 2005.)