Asthma status is associated with decreased risk of aggressive urothelial bladder cancer. Issue 3 (16th October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rava, Marta; Czachorowski, Maciej J.; Silverman, Debra; Márquez, Mirari; Kishore, Sirish; Tardón, Adonina; Serra, Consol; García‐Closas, Montse; Garcia‐Closas, Reina; Carrato, Alfredo; Rothman, Nathaniel; Real, Francisco X.; Kogevinas, Manolis; Malats, Núria
• Is Part Of: International journal of cancer. Volume 142:Issue 3(2018)
• Page Start: 470
• Page End: 476
• Publication Date: 2017-10-16
• Subjects: bladder cancer -- asthma -- atopic diseases -- risk -- case–control study -- counterfactual mediation models; Cancer -- Periodicals; Cancer -- Prevention -- Periodicals; 616.994
• DOI: 10.1002/ijc.31066
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0020-7136

Abstract

Abstract : Previous studies suggested an association between atopic conditions and specific cancers. The results on the association with urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) are scarce and inconsistent. To evaluate the association between asthma and risk of UBC, we considered 936 cases and 1, 022 controls from the Spanish Bladder Cancer/EPICURO Study (86% males, mean age 65.4 years), a multicenter and hospital‐based case–control study conducted during 1998–2001. Participants were asked whether they had asthma and detailed information about occupational exposures, smoking habits, dietary factors, medical conditions and history of medication was collected through face‐to‐face questionnaires performed by trained interviewers. Since asthma and UBC might share risk factors, association between patients' characteristics and asthma was studied in UBC controls. Association between UBC and asthma was assessed using logistic regression unadjusted and adjusted for potential confounders. The complex interrelationships, direct and mediating effect of asthma on UBC, were appraised using counterfactual mediation models. Asthma was associated with a reduced risk of UBC (odds ratio (OR) = 0.54, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37, 0.79) after adjusting for a wide range of confounders. No mediating effect was identified. The reduced risk associated with asthma was restricted to patients with high‐risk non‐muscle invasive (OR = 0.25, 95%CI 0.10, 0.62) and muscle invasive UBC (OR = 0.32, 95%CI 0.15, 0.69). Our results support that asthma is associated with a decreased risk of UBC, especially among aggressive tumors. Further work on the relationship between asthma and other atopic conditions and cancer risk should shed light on the relationship between immune response mechanisms and bladder carcinogenesis. Abstract : What's new? Evidence indicates that asthma and other allergic conditions may reduce the risk of cancer. In our study of urothelial bladder cancer (UBC), the authors found that asthma was, indeed, associated with a decreased risk of aggressive UBC tumors. These results suggest that treatment of UBC might be improved by modifying a patient's immunological status.