The lancet oncology
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The lancet oncology · Jun 2011
ReviewNo paradox, no progress: inverse cancer comorbidity in people with other complex diseases.
In the past 5 years, several leading groups have attempted to explain why individuals with Down's syndrome have a reduced risk of many solid tumours and an increased risk of leukaemia and testicular cancer. Niels Bohr, the Danish physicist, noted that a paradox could initiate progress. We think that the paradox of a medical disorder protecting against cancer could be formalised in a new model of inverse cancer morbidity in people with other serious diseases. ⋯ Intriguingly, most comorbidities are neuropsychiatric or CNS disorders. We provide a brief overview of evidence indicating genetic and molecular connections between cancer and these complex diseases. Inverse comorbidity could be a valuable model to investigate common or related pathways or processes and test new therapies, but, most importantly, to understand why certain people are protected from the malignancy.