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Newswise – ATLANTA and TAMPA, Florida – A new study suggests a link between infection with Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) and the risk of glioma, a type of brain cancer, in adults. The report, which appeared in the International Journal of Cancer, finds that people with glioma are more likely to have antibodies to T. gondii (indicating that they have had an infection before) than a similar group without cancer.
For the study, researchers led by Anna Coghill, Ph.D., of the Moffitt Cancer Center and James Hodge, JD, MPH, of the American Cancer Society, examined the association between antibodies against T. gondii measured several years before cancer diagnosis and risk of developing glioma. The study participants were from the Nutritional Cohort Study II (CPS-II) of the American Cancer Society and the Janus Serum Bank (Janus) of the Norwegian Cancer Registry. T. gondii is a common parasite that is most acquired from undercooked meat and can lead to the formation of cysts in the brain. These results suggest that reducing exposure to this common dietary pathogen may provide a modifiable risk factor for highly aggressive brain tumors in adults.
Although glioma is a relatively rare disease, it is an extremely fatal cancer. Globally in 2018, there were approximately 300,000 incident cases and 241,000 deaths from brain cancers and other cancers of the nervous system. The majority (80%) of malignant brain tumors are gliomas, for which the estimated five-year relative survival rate is 5%.
The study notes that an association between antibodies against T. gondii and glioma was similar in two demographically different groups of people: cases of CPS-II were around 70 years old at the time of blood test, while those of the Janus cohort were about 40 years old. .
“This does not mean that T. gondii definitely causes glioma in all situations. Some people with glioma don’t have antibodies to T. gondii, and vice versa, ”Hodge notes.
“The results suggest that people more exposed to the T. gondii parasite are more likely to develop glioma,” Coghill said. “However, it should be noted that the absolute risk of being diagnosed with glioma remains low and these findings need to be replicated in a larger and more diverse group of individuals.”
The authors note that “if future studies replicate these results, ongoing efforts to reduce exposure to this common pathogen would offer the first tangible opportunity to prevent this very aggressive brain tumor.”
Article: Hodge JM, Coghill AE, Kim Y, Bender N, Smith-Warner S, Gapstur S, Teras LR, Grimsrud TK, Waterboer T, Egan KM. Toxoplasma Gondii infection and risk of glioma in adults in two prospective studies, 2021. International Journal of Cancer 2021; doi: 10.1002 / ijc.33443.
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