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Foundation Scientific, Clinical Directors Question Study on Lung Cancer Linked to Alpha-1; 'Not a Cause for Undue Worry'
MIAMI, FL – A recent report that carriers of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency may have an increased risk of lung cancer “needs to be put in perspective – it’s not a cause for undue worry,” says Adam Wanner, MD, Scientific Director of the Alpha-1 Foundation.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, reported in a study published in the May 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine that Alpha-1 carriers may have a risk of developing lung cancer that is 1.5 to 2 times that of the general population.
Wanner pointed out the relative risks found in the study’s own analysis: “Smokers and/or COPD patients have a risk of lung cancer 6-9 times higher than non-smokers, much greater risk factors than the Alpha-1 gene. Also, the slightly increased cancer risk in Alpha-1 carriers is not greater than in non-smokers without the Alpha-1 gene who are exposed to environmental cigarette smoke.”
Robert A. Sandhaus, MD, PhD, the Foundation’s Clinical Director, said there are several questions raised by the study. “First, the study patients and control groups represent a variety of Alpha-1 genes including MS, MZ, MNull, SZ, and even 10% unspecified homozygote deficient individuals. Analyzed separately, these individual groups are not likely to show an increased risk of lung cancer, while the combined populations did. Since there is currently no evidence that ZZ individuals are at increased risk of lung cancer, this brings the entire premise under some suspicion.”
