Sara Olson

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Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

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PLCO (Learn more about this study)

2009-0563

Jan 21, 2010

Serum IgE and Risk of Pancreatic Cancer

There is consistent and convincing evidence that self-reported allergies are associated with reduced risk of pancreatic cancer. Very little is understood about this association; one limitation is the absence of studies of biomarkers of allergic response and their relation to risk. Individuals with allergies have higher levels of serum IgE, both total IgE and allergen-specific IgE. Study of biomarkers related to allergies can potentially provide a better indicator of risk than self-report, as well as provide a better understanding of the biologic processes behind this association. We propose to study baseline measures of serum IgE (total IgE and specific IgE to respiratory and food allergens) in relation to development of pancreatic cancer, hypothesizing that markers indicating greater allergic response will be associated with reduced risk. Because of the widespread systemic effects of pancreatic cancer, a prospective design is far stronger than a case-control design in which disease may affect IgE levels. IgE will be measured in a minimum of 200 pancreatic cancer cases and 400 controls, with 2 controls for each case individually matched on age at baseline, gender, race, and month of blood draw. In data analysis, we will investigate the association of each IgE measure with risk of pancreatic cancer, using conditional logistic regression to obtain odds ratios and to adjust for possible confounders. Our study team consists of epidemiologists who are experienced in pancreatic cancer and in IgE measures, a biostatistician, and a physician with clinical and research specialties in allergy.