Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 97, No. 20, October 19, 2005 CORRESPONDENCE 1549
Re: Cancer as a Risk Factorfor Long-Term CognitiveDe
fi
cits and Dementia
The recent report linking cancer as arisk factor for cognitive dysfunction at astatistically signi
fi
cant level and demen-tia at a non – statistically signi
fi
cant level
( 1 )
is interesting and highlights the pos-sible risk of unwanted side effects fromcancer treatment. However, the link be-tween cancer and cognitive dysfunctionis likely due to shared risk factors as well.The study overlooked the role of dietaryand lifestyle factors (e.g., exercise, smok-ing) in modifying the risks of both cancer and dementia among the elderly.Although genetics plays an importantrole in the etiology of cognitive dysfunc-tion and dementia
( 1 )
, so do diet andlifestyle
( 2 – 5 ).
Furthermore, JapaneseAmericans and African Americans livingin the United States have a two andfour times greater risk, respectively, of Alzheimer disease than when living intheir ancestral homelands, which is sta-tistically correlated with national con-sumer dietary supply factors in linear regression analyses with
r
2
values rang-ing from 0.69 to 0.93
( 2 )
. Total energyand fat intake are directly associatedwith risk of Alzheimer disease, whereas
fi
sh and cereals/grains intake are in-versely associated
( 2 )
.Cancer risk is also strongly linked todietary and lifestyle factors [includingsmoking
( 6 ,7 )
]. Intake of animal prod-ucts that are high in both fat and proteinis associated with risk for many commoncancers, such as breast and colon cancer
( 6 ).
The mechanisms may include pro-duction of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I)
( 6 )
and endogenous sex hor-mones. A recent review highlighted theWestern high-fat and re
fi
ned-sugar dietand physical inactivity as important risk factors for cancer
( 7 ).
Thus, cancer anddementia share several dietary and life-style risk factors.In conclusion, recent
fi
ndings indicatethat contributions to cognitive dysfunc-tion and dementia from both diet andlifestyle may occur prior to the develop-ment of cancer and its treatment. Further studies are required to determine therelative contributions from each.W
ILLIAM
B. G
RANT
R
EFERENCES
(1)
He
fl
in LH, Meyerowitz BE, Hall P, Lichtenstein P,Johansson B, Pedersen NL, et al. Cancer as arisk factor for long-term cognitive de
fi
cits anddementia. J Natl Cancer Inst 2005;97:854 – 6.
(2)
(3)
Mattson MP. Existing data suggest thatAlzheimer’s disease is preventable. Ann N YAcad Sci 2000;924:153 – 9.
(4)
Grant WB, Campbell A, Itzhaki RF, Savory J.The signi
fi
cance of environmental factors inthe etiology of Alzheimer’s disease, J Alz Dis2002;4:179 – 89.
(5)
Solfrizzi V, D’Introno A, Colacicco AM,Capurso C, Del Parigi A, Capurso S, et al.Dietary fatty acids intake: possible role incognitive decline and dementia. Exp Gerontol2005;40:257 – 70.
(6)
Grant WB. An ecologic study of dietary andsolar UV-B links to breast carcinoma mortalityrates. Cancer 2002;94:272 – 81.
(7)
Barnard RJ. Prevention of Cancer ThroughLifestyle Changes. Evid Based ComplementAlternat Med 2004;1:233 – 9.
N
OTES
Correspondence to:
William B. Grant, PhD,Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center (SUNARC), 2107 Van Ness Ave., Ste. 403B, SanFrancisco, CA 94109 (e-mail: wgrant@sunarc.org).DOI: 10.1093/jnci/dji319© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford Univer sityPress. All rights reserved. For Permissions, pleasee-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.
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