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Colds linked to child cancers

Roland Hancock
13/12/2005

THE common cold could cause cancer in some children, according to Manchester University researchers.

They said seemingly harmless infections during pregnancy or in early childhood could be a factor in triggering some cancers.

However, they stressed that people could not "catch cancer" from a cold as only a very small number of children - already susceptible to the disease - will be affected.

The research project used information from the Manchester Children's Tumour Register, which has recorded details of all under-15s diagnosed with cancer in the north west since 1954.

Researchers found that two types of cancer - leukaemia and brain tumours - "clustered" in the same place in any given year, a pattern typical of infectious diseases.

Manchester University's Tim Eden, who has recently become Britain's first Professor of Teenage and Young Adult Cancer, said: "This is further confirmatory evidence of a relationship between childhood cancer and the response by children to environmental influences, such as viral infections.

"It is important to stress that it doesn't look as if it is any particular infection that is involved; rather it is the response of the body to a number of different infections seems the most likely linkage."

Trigger

Scientists believe a common infection can trigger cancer in babies or children who are already carrying irregular mutant cells. The infection can cause a second mutation, which can lead to cancer.

Looking at more than 4,300 cases in Greater Manchester, north Cheshire, Lancashire, south Cumbria and north west Derbyshire, researchers found that there were 8 per cent more cases of leukaemia and central nervous system tumours than can be explained by chance.

Clusters of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and the brain tumour astrocytoma were also discovered around time and place of birth, displaying 13 per cent more cases than expected.

Professor John Toy, Cancer Research UK's medical director, said: "These findings provide more clues to a link between viruses and some types of childhood cancer, but we need more evidence before we can be sure.

"Reassuringly for mums, children who are introduced to day care or who are more socially active during their first year of life have been found to be at lower risk of childhood leukaemia.

"This may be because their immune systems have been strengthened by being exposed to a wide variety of infections at an early age."



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