A Taiwanese study suggests that Parkinson's disease is linked to 16 different types of cancer. The study was conducted among the Eastern Asian population and contradicts the findings of more than 25 Western studies stating that having Parkinson's disease can lower one's risk to different types of cancers.
Parkinson's disease directly affects the nerve cells in the brain, causing movement problems that worsen over time.
Researchers at the National Taiwan University College of Medicine in Taipei looked at the records of the national health database involving more than 186,069 participants between 2004 and 2010. Five percent of the subjects, or 62,023, were diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
The analysis showed that Parkinson's disease does not increase one's risk to breast, ovarian, and thyroid cancers. However, the researchers saw an association between the disease and 16 different types of cancer, including malignant brain tumors, gastrointestinal tracts cancers, lung cancers, some hormone-related cancers, urinary tract cancers, lymphoma/leukemia, melanoma and other skin cancers.
"Based on this nationwide study on the association between PD [Parkinson disease] and cancer risk, we conclude that PD is a risk factor for most cancer in Taiwan. In our cohort, only breast, ovarian and thyroid cancers show no association with PD," Pan-Chyr Yang, study leader and professor of medicine in National Taiwan University College of Medicine, said in a press release.
The researchers admitted that further research is needed to determine why their findings contradict the Western studies. Their initial assumption, however, is that there are environmental factors that could affect the development of the disease. The Western studies, on the other hand, believe that there is a genetic link for Parkinson's disease.
For instance, nearly one million people, or less than one percent of seniors in the U.S., are living with the disease compared to almost half of the East Asian older population.
The study was published in the June 18 issue of JAMA Oncology.
