AN APPROACH TO STUDIES OF CANCER SUBSEQUENT TO CLUSTERS OF CHRONIC SYNDROME - USE OF DATA FROM THE NEVADA-STATE-CANCER-REGISTRY

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has been increasingly associated with i mmune dysregulation, including depressed natural killer cell activity; this phenomenon is associated with increased susceptibility to cancer . Although anecdotal reports have suggested an association between CFS and cancer, particularly non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and brain cancer, the re has been no a priori justification for evaluating such an associati on and no consideration of relevant parameters, such as length of late nt period vs. tumor type. We reviewed data from the Nevada State Cance r Registry subsequent to a reported outbreak of a CFS-like illness in Nevada that occurred during 1984-1986. We concentrated on non-Hodgkin' s lymphoma and brain/CNS tumors, with particular emphasis on persons 1 5-34 and 35-54 years of age. An upward trend in the incidence of brain /CNS tumors, which could be related to a national upward trend for thi s disease, was noted. No consistent trends were noted for non-Hodgkin' s lymphoma. Because of the difficulties inherent in studies of cancer subsequent to various exposures, we evaluated the methodology for dete rmining an association between outbreaks of CFS-like disease and cance r. We propose several approaches that should be considered in future s tudies for investigation of possible associations between CFS and canc er, including expected latent periods for specific tumors.