Blood Types indicate greater Risk for Cancer
Blood Types - A, B, AB, or O
Macklin Medical Mission
Offering a novel clue about the basic biology of pancreatic cancer, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have confirmed a decades-old discovery of a link between blood type and the risk of developing the disease.
The finding, published online by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute on March 10, is based on an analysis of blood type and pancreatic cancer occurrence in participants of two large health-tracking studies, the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.
The new study demonstrates that while people’s overall risk of pancreatic cancer is relatively low — with nearly 40,000 new cases diagnosed annually in the United States, compared with nearly 150,000 new cases of colorectal cancer — people with Blood Types A, B, or AB were more likely to develop the disease than those with Type O.
“Except for several rare familial syndromes, the genetic factors that raise or lower an individual’s risk for pancreatic cancer are largely unknown,” said the study’s lead author, Brian Wolpin, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Studies done several decades ago suggested a link between blood type and the risk of various malignancies, including pancreatic cancer, but they were limited by the fact that they ‘looked back’ at cancers that had already occurred and involved relatively few cases. We wanted to see if the association held up using modern patient cohorts and research techniques.”
They found that, compared to participants with Type O blood, those with Type A had a 32 percent higher chance of incurring pancreatic cancer, those with type AB had a 51 percent higher chance, and those with Type B had a 72 percent higher chance.
Within the entire group, 17 percent of pancreatic cancers were attributable to inheriting a non-O blood group. But because the lifetime risk of developing the disease is relatively low (estimated at 1.3 percent) and the increased risk associated with blood type relatively modest, screening tests for pancreatic cancer risk are unlikely to be based on blood type alone. The real value of the findings is what they suggest about the inner workings of the disease, the authors say.
The four human blood groups are defined by the type of glycoproteins — confections of sugar and protein — found on the surface of red blood cells and other cells, including those in the pancreas. A gene known as ABO helps construct these glycoproteins by ordering the placement of sugar molecules on a protein “backbone” called the H antigen. The pattern formed by these sugars determines whether an individual’s blood Type is A, B, AB, or O. (In the O Type, no sugars are attached to the antigen.)
Experiments by other investigators have shown that normal pancreas cells carry a different pattern of these blood-type antigens than pancreatic tumour cells do, suggesting that changes in the ABO gene’s activity may occur as the cells become cancerous. Researchers speculate that alterations in the antigens may interfere with the cells’ ability to signal and adhere to one another, and with the immune system’s ability to detect abnormal cells — potentially setting the stage for cancer.
Blood-type antigens may also affect the level of inflammatory proteins in a person’s blood. Chronic inflammation has been linked to pancreatic cancer risk.
Intriguing as these findings are, they don’t necessarily prove a direct link between blood-type antigens and pancreatic cancer development, the authors assert. It is also possible that the ABO gene is merely a marker for other, nearby genes that are more directly involved in cancer development.
“The association between blood type and pancreatic cancer risk provides a new avenue for getting at the biological mechanisms that underlie the disease,” Wolpin says. “Understanding the biology will put us in a better position to intervene so the cancer doesn’t develop or progress.”
The study’s senior author is Charles Fuchs of Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). Co-authors include David Hunter and Edward Giovannucci of BWH and the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH); Andrew Chan of BWH and Massachusetts General Hospital; Patricia Hartge and Stephen Chanock of the National Cancer Institute; and Peter Kraft of the HSPH.
It would appear then that White blood cells from the Blood Group Type O, without sugars attached to the associated Red Blood cells, are either more successful or simply more resistant to the formation of cancer cells, or if cancer cells did appear in the body then the white cells are more successful in dealing with them.
BLOOD TYPE AND CANCER
Although there are probably over a thousand publications on the associations of blood groups and disease, many are based totally on statistical analyses. Most of the earlier studies have been controversial, because they were small studies and/or had inadequate controls and/or had been analyzed incorrectly.
Although there are probably over a thousand publications on the associations of blood groups and disease, many are based totally on statistical analyses. Most of the earlier studies have been controversial, because they were small studies and/or had inadequate controls and/or had been analyzed incorrectly.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to argue with the general pattern that emerges from the large body of statistical data on malignancy, coagulation and infection. Some of the findings on microbe receptors, and the association with important immune proteins are most convincing and suggest that blood group antigens do play an important biological role:
A role that is often completely unrelated to the red blood cells themselves but more so with the associated white blood cell itself. It can be said at the outset, that cancers in general tend to be associated with Group A, and slightly less strongly with Group B. With that, let's look at some trends among selected cancers with regard to blood type.
BREAST CANCER
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. And while the mortality rates are falling slightly for some sub-populations of women, it is still a potentially lethal adversary. Some researchers have even gone so far as to say that "blood groups were shown to possess a predictive value independent of other known prognostic factors" when discussing breast cancer. Other researchers have actually suggested that a degree of the susceptibility to breast cancer, from a gene perspective, might be a result of a breast cancer-susceptibility locus linked to the ABO locus located on band q34 of chromosome 9. Observation has been that blood Type A women have a generalized tendency to worse outcomes and a more rapid progression with this cancer.
BLADDER CANCER
Generic bladder cancer appears to be an exception to the generalized observation of Type A's and overall cancer aggressiveness. In a study by Llopis et al, the researchers noticed that blood Group of Type O had a tendency to increased aggressiveness, higher tumour grade, and more relapses. Surprisingly, blood Type A individuals generally were less likely to have aggressive cancer and were somewhat protected against relapses of bladder cancer.
Blood Type O's generally had higher grade tumours and higher mortality rates. Other researchers have also observed similar trends, such as the blood type O tendency to higher grade tumours, larger tumours, progression to advanced disease, and increased rates of mortality (especially after 8 years).
COLON CANCER
Colorectal cancer is among the most frequent cancers in the United States and Canada, with an estimated 133,000 new cases predicted (94,000 for colon and 39,000 for rectum). About 55,000 deaths from colorectal cancer are expected this year. Some of the most common risk factors include a family history of colorectal cancer; polyps or inflammatory bowel disease. Other risk factors can include physical inactivity, exposure to certain chemicals [as in the case of researchers] and a high-fat or low-fiber diet. If you eat steak, make sure you grill it to remove the fast content.
Colon cancer is actually one of the relatively few diseases with a significant association to an individual's Rh blood Type. Although Rh+ and Rh- individuals are about equally likely to have colon cancer, Rh- individuals are more likely to only have a localized disease, while Rh+ individuals are more likely to have metastatic disease.
This suggests that Rh+ patients with colorectal cancer are less protected against tumour spread than Rh- patients which are more protected, especially with regard to regional lymph node metastases.
Having said all that it appears that white blood cells working in conjunction with un-encumbered red blood cells, i.e. no blood sugars [Type O or a combined AB Type] with a Rh- factor is the favoured grouping in the fight against cancer; not to mention a healthy life style.
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Chairman
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The Macklin Medical Mission [Est. 1886]
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