Immune deficiency rather than other risk factors for cancer such as lifestyle are probably responsible for the increased risk of cancer in immune suppressed populations concludes an Article in this week's issue of the Lancet. Andrew Grulich (University of New South Wales, Australia) and colleagues did a meta-analysis of cancer incidence in published population-based studies of people with HIV/AIDS and organ transplant recipients. The authors found that an extensive range of cancers occurs at increased incidence both in people with HIV/AIDS and in transplant recipients. The authors conclude: "The increased rates of cancers we have found at a very large range of sites suggests a broader than previously appreciated role for the immune system in the prevention of cancers related to infection."
The Lancet