One of the causes of glioma?
Toxoplasmosis may increase the risk of brain cancer
Maria Tolmacheva, XX2 century
The International Journal of Cancer published a study according to which glioma patients were more likely to have antibodies to T.gondii (that is, these patients suffered toxoplasmosis) than in people without this type of cancer (Hodge et al., Toxoplasma gondii infection and the risk of adult glioma in two prospective studies).
The press release of Study Identifies Exposure to Common Food-Borne Pathogen Linked to Rare Brain Cancer is published on the website of the American Cancer Society.
Toxoplasmosis is a common disease affecting up to 50% of the world's population. It is caused by parasites T. gondii. Most often they enter the host's body through the esophagus: from unwashed and raw foods and dirty water. Basically, toxoplasmosis in humans is almost asymptomatic. Scientists are often interested in the connection of this disease with others, for example, with mental disorders, although there is little evidence of this connection yet.
Led by James Hodge (JD, MPH) and Anna Coghill (Anna Coghill, PhD), researchers studied the relationship between the presence of antibodies to T. gondii in blood tests taken several years before diagnosis, and the risk of developing glioma. For their work, they used data from the research cohort of the American Community for Cancer Prevention Study-II (CPS-II) Nutrition Cohort and a blood test bank Norwegian Cancer Registry, Janus Serum Bank.
Although glioma is a relatively rare disease, in malignant form this tumor is very aggressive. In 2018, there were 241,000 deaths worldwide related to brain cancer. The majority (80%) of malignant brain tumors are gliomas, for which the five–year relative survival rate is approximately 5%.
The study notes that the relationship between antibodies to T. gondii and glioma were the same in two demographically different groups: in the cases of the cohort of the American community, about 70 years have passed since the blood was taken, and in the cases from the Norwegian Registry – 40 years.
"This does not mean that T. gondii definitely always causes glioma. Some people with glioma do not have T antibodies. gondii, and vice versa," Hodge notes.
"The data obtained suggest that people who have had taxoplasmosis are more at risk of glioma. However, it should be noted that the absolute risk remains low. To clarify, the results should be replicated on a wider and more diverse sample," adds Coghill.
The authors believe that if future studies do repeat these results, then reducing the impact of T. gondii will be the first known way to prevent glioma.
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