title: Approaching a Scientific Consensus on the Association between Allergies and Glioma Risk: A Report from the Glioma International Case-Control Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several previous studies have found inverse associations between glioma susceptibility and a history of allergies or other atopic conditions. Some evidence indicates that respiratory allergies are likely to be particularly relevant with regard to glioma risk. Using data from the Glioma International Case-Control Study (GICC), we examined the effects of respiratory allergies and other atopic conditions on glioma risk.
  
  
  METHODS
  The GICC contains detailed information on history of atopic conditions for 4,533 cases and 4,171 controls, recruited from 14 study sites across five countries. Using two-stage random-effects restricted maximum likelihood modeling to calculate meta-analysis ORs, we examined the associations between glioma and allergy status, respiratory allergy status, asthma, and eczema.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Having a history of respiratory allergies was associated with an approximately 30% lower glioma risk, compared with not having respiratory allergies (mOR, 0.72; 95% confidence interval, 0.58-0.90). This association was similar when restricting to high-grade glioma cases. Asthma and eczema were also significantly protective against glioma.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A substantial amount of data on the inverse association between atopic conditions and glioma has accumulated, and findings from the GICC study further strengthen the existing evidence that the relationship between atopy and glioma is unlikely to be coincidental.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As the literature approaches a consensus on the impact of allergies in glioma risk, future research can begin to shift focus to what the underlying biologic mechanism behind this association may be, which could, in turn, yield new opportunities for immunotherapy or cancer prevention.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: E Susan
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Amirian
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Renke
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Margaret R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Wrensch
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Sara H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Scheurer
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Georgia State University School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia. Cancer Control and Prevention Program, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Dora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Il'yasova
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lachance
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Georgina N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Lucie S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: McCoy
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Ching C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Elizabeth B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Claus
authors.affiliation: Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: Jill S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Barnholtz-Sloan
authors.affiliation: Cancer Control and Prevention Program, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Joellen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schildkraut
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ali-Osman
authors.affiliation: Cancer and Radiation Epidemiology Unit, Gertner Institute, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel. Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Siegal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sadetzki
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark. Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Christoffer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Johansen
authors.affiliation: Section of Cancer Genetics, Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Richard S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Houlston
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Jonine L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, Illinois.
authors.forename: Ryan T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Merrell
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Services, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Faith G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, The University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California. Department of Neurosurgery, The University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California. Department of Preventive Medicine, The University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: Rose
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shete
authors.affiliation: Department of Community and Family Medicine, Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire. Department of Genetics, Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire.
authors.forename: Christopher I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Amos
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Sciences Oncology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Beatrice S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Melin
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. mbondy@bcm.edu.
authors.forename: Melissa L
authors.initials: ML
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mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D032921:Consensus; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult