Investigating the association between allergen-specific immunoglobulin E, cancer risk and survival

Figures & data

Table 2. Specific IgE scores in CALAB and corresponding serum concentrations.

Specific IgE score	Serum concentrations (kU/L)	Serum IgE levels
0	<0.35	Absent/undetectable
1	0.35 – 0.70	Low level
2	0.70 – 3.50	Moderate level
3	3.50 – 17.5	High level
4	17.5 – 50	Very high level
5	50 – 100	Very high level
6	≥100	Very high level

Table 1. Characteristics of study participants by IgE sensitization status.

	IgE sensitization
	No (n = 4,714)	Yes (n = 4,013)
Age (years)
Mean (SD)	42.26 (13.74)	37.31 (12.66)
Sex, male, n (%)	1661 (35.24)	1945 (48.47)
Socioeconomic status, n (%)
High	1912 (40.56)	1423 (35.46)
Low	2074 (44.00)	1697 (42.49)
Unclassified/missing	728 (15.44)	893 (22.25)
History of chronic respiratory disease, n (%)	67 (1.42)	92 (2.29)
Year of measurement, n (%)
1992–1994	1192 (25.29)	986 (24.57)
1994–1996	2682 (56.89)	1997 (49.76)
1996	840 (17.82)	1030 (25.67)
Total IgE (kU/L)
<25	1765 (37.44)	285 (7.10)
25–100	1937 (41.09)	1355 (33.77)
≥100	1012 (21.47)	2373 (59.13)
Mean follow-up in years, Mean (SD)	15.86 (3.59)	16.05 (3.23)
Any cancer during follow-up, n (%)
All cancer	443 (9.40)	246 (6.13)
Breast (female)	115 (2.44)	50 (1.25)
Prostate	55 (1.17)	42 (1.05)
Colorectal	43 (0.91)	21 (0.52)
Gynecological	41 (0.87)	12 (0.30)
hematological	31 (0.66)	22 (0.55)
Melanoma	27 (0.57)	10 (0.25)
Pulmonary	21 (0.45)	14 (0.35)
Bladder	14 (0.30)	11 (0.27)
NMSC	16 (0.34)	9 (0.22)
CNS	11 (0.23)	9 (0.22)
Kidney	12 (0.25)	9 (0.22)

n = number of participants.

Table 3. Associations between IgE sensitization, serum specific IgE scores and risk of incident cancer overall and by sex with chronological age as timescale.

		HR (95% CI)
		IgE sensitization		Specific IgE scores^§
	n cancer/n total	No	Yes	0	1–2	3–4	5–6	Ptrend
Both men and women
n		4714	4013	4714	6402	8331	8727
Multivariable model	689/8727	1.0 (Ref)	0.88 (0.75–1.03)	1.0 (Ref)	1.00 (0.82–1.21)	0.74 (0.59–0.93)	0.91 (0.55–1.51)	0.03
Additional adjustment for total IgE	689/8727	1.0 (Ref)	0.83 (0.70–0.99)	1.0 (Ref)	0.95 (0.78–1.16)	0.69 (0.54–0.88)	0.79 (0.47–1.32)	0.007
Stratification by total IgE (kU/L)
	191/2050	1.0 (Ref)	0.79 (0.48–1.32)	1.0 (Ref)	0.86 (0.51–1.47)	0.48 (0.12–1.99)	N/A	0.29
25–100	238/3292	1.0 (Ref)	0.85 (0.64–1.13)	1.0 (Ref)	0.91 (0.65–1.28)	0.77 (0.51–1.16)	N/A	0.18
≥100	260/3385	1.0 (Ref)	0.82 (0.63–1.06)	1.0 (Ref)	1.00 (0.74–1.34)	0.66 (0.48–0.91)	0.81 (0.47–1.39)	0.02
Men
n		1661	1945	1661	732	1003	210
Multivariable model	277/3606	1.0 (Ref)	0.97 (0.76–1.23)	1.0 (Ref)	1.01 (0.75–1.36)	0.89 (0.65–122)	1.27 (0.64–2.52)	0.80
Additional adjustment for total IgE	277/3606	1.0 (Ref)	0.89 (0.69–1.17)	1.0 (Ref)	0.95 (0.69–1.29)	0.83 (0.59–1.16)	1.10 (0.54–2.23)	0.42
Stratification by total IgE (kU/L)
<25	53/649	1.0 (Ref)	0.71 (0.29–1.76)	1.0 (Ref)	0.59 (0.20–1.78)	1.11 (0.27–4.67)	N/A	0.64
25–100	97/1377	1.0 (Ref)	0.83 (0.54–1.28)	1.0 (Ref)	0.99 (0.59–1.66)	0.68 (0.38–1.23)	N/A	0.24
≥100	127/1580	1.0 (Ref)	0.97 (0.67–1.41)	1.0 (Ref)	1.00 (0.64–1.57)	0.89 (0.57–1.40)	1.23 (0.58–2.61)	0.94
Women
n		3053	2068	3053	956	926	186
Multivariable model	412/5121	1.0 (Ref)	0.83 (0.67–1.03)	1.0 (Ref)	0.98 (0.76–1.27)	0.64 (0.45–0.90)	0.72 (0.34–1.53)	0.01
Additional adjustment for total IgE	412/5121	1.0 (Ref)	0.81 (0.64–1.02)	1.0 (Ref)	0.96 (0.74–1.24)	0.61 (0.42–0.87)	0.64 (0.30–1.39)	0.01
Stratification by total IgE (kU/L)
<25	138/1401	1.0 (Ref)	0.82 (0.44–1.53)	1.0 (Ref)	0.98 (0.53–1.83)	N/A	N/A	0.30
25–100	141/1915	1.0 (Ref)	0.87 (0.59–1.26)	1.0 (Ref)	0.85 (0.54–1.34)	0.91 (0.52–1.58)	N/A	0.51
≥100	133/1805	1.0 (Ref)	0.73 (0.52–1.04)	1.0 (Ref)	0.98 (0.66–1.46)	0.51 (0.31–0.83)	0.63 (0.29–1.39)	0.01

^§ Highest specific IgE scores recorded at baseline.

N/A = not applicable; n = number of participants.

All models were adjusted for sex (except for sex-specific analysis), socioeconomic status, period of measurement and history of chronic pulmonary disease.

Table 4. Associations between IgE sensitization, serum specific IgE scores and risk of site-specific cancers by sex with chronological age as timescale.

		HR (95% CI)
		IgE sensitization		Specific IgE scores^§
	n cancer	No	Yes	0	1–2	3–4	5–6	Ptrend
Both men and women
All excluding NMSC	664	1.0 (Ref)	0.82 (0.69–0.99)	1.0 (Ref)	0.96 (0.78–1.18)	0.67 (0.52–0.85)	0.81 (0.48–1.36)	0.005
Colorectal	64	1.0 (Ref)	0.71 (0.39–1.26)	1.0 (Ref)	0.75 (0.38–1.51)	0.60 (0.27–1.34)	1.23 (0.28–5.42)	0.32
hematological	53	1.0 (Ref)	0.95 (0.51–1.76)	1.0 (Ref)	1.16 (0.58–2.30)	0.66 (0.27–1.59)	1.22 (0.27–5.46)	0.62
Melanoma	37	1.0 (Ref)	0.53 (0.24–1.17)	1.0 (Ref)	0.79 (0.33–1.88)	0.32 (0.09–1.13)	N/A	0.04
Pulmonary	35	1.0 (Ref)	0.87 (0.41–1.84)	1.0 (Ref)	1.24 (0.56–2.76)	0.41 (0.11–1.43)	0.94 (0.12–7.44)	0.33
Bladder	25	1.0 (Ref)	1.20 (0.50–2.87)	1.0 (Ref)	1.45 (0.56–3.77)	0.95 (0.29–3.14)	N/A	0.89
NMSC	25	1.0 (Ref)	0.97 (0.40–2.39)	1.0 (Ref)	0.62 (0.17–2.20)	1.56 (0.55–4.44)	N/A	0.74
Kidney	21	1.0 (Ref)	1.09 (0.40–2.95)	1.0 (Ref)	1.50 (0.52–4.30)	0.27 (0.03–2.23)	3.42 (0.63–18.50)	0.95
CNS	20	1.0 (Ref)	1.33 (0.47–3.73)	1.0 (Ref)	1.82 (0.62–5.33)	0.88 (0.21–3.61)	N/A	0.74
Men
All excluding NMSC	267	1.0 (Ref)	0.89 (0.68–1.16)	1.0 (Ref)	0.95 (0.69–1.31)	0.80 (0.57–1.13)	1.12 (0.55–2.28)	0.37
Prostate	97	1.0 (Ref)	0.93 (0.38–1.04)	1.0 (Ref)	0.86 (0.50–1.48)	0.93 (0.53–1.63)	2.31 (0.78–6.82)	0.79
Colorectal	35	1.0 (Ref)	0.71 (0.34–1.49)	1.0 (Ref)	0.77 (0.31–1.88)	0.54 (0.19–1.53)	1.83 (0.38–8.77)	0.52
hematological	23	1.0 (Ref)	1.13 (0.44–2.89)	1.0 (Ref)	1.11 (0.36–3.35)	1.12 (0.35–3.62)	1.35 (0.15–12.15)	0.78
Pulmonary	15	1.0 (Ref)	1.07 (0.35–3.26)	1.0 (Ref)	1.41 (0.42–4.71)	0.57 (0.11–3.02)	2.38 (0.24–23.99)	0.93
Melanoma	12	1.0 (Ref)	0.56 (0.15–2.06)	1.0 (Ref)	0.65 (0.13–3.18)	5.31 (0.10–2.77)	N/A	0.31
Women
All excluding NMSC	397	1.0 (Ref)	0.81 (0.63–1.03)	1.0 (Ref)	0.98 (0.75–1.28)	0.57 (0.39–0.83)	0.65 (0.30–1.42)	0.008
Breast and gynecological	218	1.0 (Ref)	0.76 (0.55–1.06)	1.0 (Ref)	0.85 (0.58–1.24)	0.68 (0.43–1.10)	0.36 (0.09–1.47)	0.04
Breast	165	1.0 (Ref)	0.83 (0.57–1.20)	1.0 (Ref)	0.95 (0.63–1.45)	0.69 (0.40–1.19)	0.49 (0.12–2.05)	0.14
Gynecological	53	1.0 (Ref)	0.55 (0.27–1.13)	1.0 (Ref)	0.54 (0.22–1.32)	0.65 (0.25–1.64)	N/A	0.11
Colorectal	29	1.0 (Ref)	0.75 (0.29–1.91)	1.0 (Ref)	0.75 (0.25–2.26)	0.84 (0.23–3.10)	N/A	0.53
Hematological	30	1.0 (Ref)	0.83 (0.37–1.88)	1.0 (Ref)	1.13 (0.48–2.71)	0.37 (0.08–1.65)	1.10 (0.14–8.82)	0.40
Melanoma	25	1.0 (Ref)	5.13 (0.19–1.42)	1.0 (Ref)	0.86 (0.30–2.43)	0.18 (0.02–1.49)	N/A	0.07

^§ Highest specific IgE scores recorded at baseline.

N/A = not applicable; n = number of participants; NMSC = nonmelanoma skin cancer; CNS = central nervous system.

All models were adjusted for sex (except for sex-specific analysis), socioeconomic status, period of measurement, history of chronic pulmonary disease and serum total IgE.

Figure 1. Kaplan–Meier curves of 10-y survival following cancer diagnosis in (A) men and (B) women based on prediagnostic IgE sensitization. Black lines indicate IgE sensitization and the gray lines indicate a lack thereof.