Atopy, helminths, and cancer

Brad Zacharia; Paul Sherman

doi:10.1016/S0306-9877(02)00217-7

Atopy, helminths, and cancer

Brad Zacharia, Paul Sherman

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

There are two hypotheses for the primary function of the T_H/IgE system: protection against helminths that 'spills over' into inappropriate allergic responses in the modern environment, or protection from a variety of environmental carcinogens and infectious diseases that is adaptive even today. We suggest that rather than being alternatives, these two hypotheses fit into a single causal framework. Atopic responses to helminths kill, inhibit, or expel the parasites, thereby reducing their debilitating effects, the most serious of which is bladder cancer. The ultimate (evolutionary) reason for the T_H2/IgE system may be minimizing chances that multiple biotic and abiotic hazards and carcinogens will enter the body; in some tropical areas, helminths are the major proximate (immediate) triggers of this response.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1-5
Number of pages	5
Journal	Medical Hypotheses
Volume	60
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-9877(02)00217-7
State	Published - Jan 1 2003

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

General Medicine

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/S0306-9877(02)00217-7

Cite this

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Atopy, helminths, and cancer

Abstract

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

UN SDGs

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