Anyone (besides me) have an autoimmune disease?

[ColOrPan]

Graves disease here, it runs in the family on both mother and father's side! Mine has now turned into Hashimoto. I also have psoriasis. It was very mild until my husband was diagnosed then it tuned a little more severe but still moderate. Docs and I believe that it just goes to show the role of stress. It too runs in the family on mother's side. So far none of us have had cancer. That we know of!!!!

[Stanfordmom]

Bev,

I don't have any autoimmune disease but I have had hay fever which is also a reflection of hyperactive immune system.

I was also curious how your surgeon figured out the ages of your primary tumor and met. That is interesting he can tell the age of the tumors

Sha

[singingholly]

How many... The opposite theory could be that an error in our immune system causes both the attack to our own body AND cancer. Wrong target...

[pollo65]

Hashimotos and IBS prior to my DX and strangely I asked my onc and he seemed interested in the link between auto immune problems and long term survival.
Pollo 65

[sun-sparkled waves]

Hashimoto's Thyroiditis here, too. Autoimmune skin condition, maybe psoriasis. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which I don't know if it's autoimmune, but it certainly effects my immune system.

[weisssoccermom]

Hashimoto's for me and for a large portion of my family....mom, aunt (on maternal side), grandmother...seems to be fairly common on the female side of the family. I guess I hadn't really realized it was considered an autoimmune disease.

[Ron50]

I have psoriasis, only mild thankfully. I have grade two ankolysing spondylitis. I have severe psoriatic arthritis. My nephrologist and neurologist are inclined to think my motor sensory neuropathy is auto-immune. I have nephrotic syndrome ,losing 7 grams a day of protein thru my urine. I have had three kidney biopsies and the problems do not relate to known kidney diseases. My nephrologist has diagnosed it as an auto immune disease of unknown type and cause. I have mild auto immune hepatitis. I have been on methotrexate for years but last year it stopped working. I had parainfluenza last November and it caused a lot of flares particularly my nephrotic syndrome loss nearly went to 8 grams and it caused some troponin leakage from my heart. I am now on 75mg morning and night of cyclosporine. It has helped the protein loss and may help The PSA and AS. I have been on it 8 months and so far apart from hair growth and gum growth no serious side effects.Ron.

[jacekica]

Psoriasis here, fortunately mostly on non visible places - legs' the most on left feet, just erupted few weeks ago accompanion of worsening with pain and fatigue.

[tammylayne]

Raynaud's here, I know when I had radiation it was a concern as you can develop issues down the road when you combine the two...butt three years later no one seems interested in following it up.

[Dori W]

I was told my "chronic idiopathic" hives are probably autoimmune in origin.

[mjkelley]

I had mild/moderate RA.

I had two thoughts go through my head....

1. my body knew something was wrong (the cancer) but couldn't "find" it, so it went on attack.

2. (Which I feel much stronger about) The drugs I took for the RA lowered my immune system, and allowed the cancer to take hold.

[juliej]

I have done a search of the literature and find nothing related to cancer in people with type 1 diabetes, which I think is a little weird as there is so much work being done now with immunotherapy and cancer.

Bev, I found the following two studies.

There was a 2003 cohort study in Sweden that looked at cancer risk in type 1 diabetes patients. It found a 20% increase in overall cancer incidence among type 1 diabetes patients. Patients with type 1 diabetes had elevated risks of cancers of the stomach, cervix, and endometrium.

J Natl Cancer Inst. 2003 Dec 3;95(23):1797-800.

Then there was a similar cohort study in 2010. It found a significant increase for gastric and skin (squamous cell carcinoma) cancers and for leukemia.

Diabet Med. 2010 Jul;27(7):791-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1464-5491.2010.03011.x.

However, I also found a 2013 NCI article about a mouse study involving a gene called BACH2. Previous research had shown that people with minor variations in the BACH2 gene often develop allergic or autoimmune diseases. In this study in mice, the Bach2 gene was found to be a critical regulator of the immune system’s reactivity. At the end of the article it says researchers are "now working toward manipulating the activity of the Bach2 gene, with the goal of developing a new cancer immunotherapy."

So it looks like that might be the connection between autoimmune diseases and cancer. Hope this helps!

The immune system is comprised of a variety of cell types that must act in unison to maintain a healthy balance. White blood cells called CD4+T cells play a dual role within the immune system. Some CD4+T cells activate immune responses, whereas others, called regulatory T cells, function in the opposite direction by constraining immune responses. This duality is important because uncontrolled immune responses may result in immune system attacks against the body’s own cells and tissues, which occurs in allergic and autoimmune diseases. One of the hallmarks of uncontrolled immune responses is excessive tissue inflammation. Although tissue inflammation is a normal part of immune responses, excessive inflammation can lead to tissue and organ damage and may be potentially lethal. How CD4+T cells become either activating/inflammatory or regulatory is not well understood, according to the researchers.

“We found that the Bach2 gene played a key role in regulating the switch between inflammatory and regulatory cells in mice,” said NIAMS researcher Kiyoshi Hirahara, M.D. “The loss of the Bach2 gene in CD4+ T cells caused them to become inflammatory, even in situations that would normally result in the formation of protective regulatory cells.”

The team found that if mice lacked the Bach2 gene their cells became inflammatory and the mice died of autoimmune diseases within the first few months of life. When they re-inserted Bach2 (using gene therapy) into Bach2-deficient cells, their ability to produce regulatory cells was restored.

"Although genes have been found that play specific roles in either inflammatory cells or regulatory cells, Bach2 regulates the choice between the two cell types, resulting in its critical role in maintaining the immune system’s healthy balance," said NCI principal investigator, Nicholas P. Restifo, M.D., "It’s apt that the gene shares its name with the famous composer Bach, since it orchestrates many components of the immune response, which, like the diverse instruments of an orchestra, must act in unison to achieve symphonic harmony."

Restifo suggests that these findings have implications for cancer as well, since cancers co-opt regulatory T cells to prevent their own destruction by antitumor immune responses. He and his colleagues are now working toward manipulating the activity of the Bach2 gene, with the goal of developing a new cancer immunotherapy. Also, as this study was in mice, it must be replicated in humans before its findings can be applied in a clinical setting.

http://www.cancer.gov/newscenter/newsfromnci/2013/BACH2

[kiwiinoz]

I had mild/moderate RA.

I had two thoughts go through my head....

1. my body knew something was wrong (the cancer) but couldn't "find" it, so it went on attack.

2. (Which I feel much stronger about) The drugs I took for the RA lowered my immune system, and allowed the cancer to take hold.

I agree, why prescribe immune suppressing drugs if it increases the risk of cancer?

[Badass]

Hi Bev,
Another Hoshimto diagnosis here! Is it possible some immune response to cellular changes kicked off my autoimmune issues years before the tumor appeared?

Also, Jeremy great to hear from you! I too have been wondering about you.

Jane (Rusuja)

[Cherie]

Yes, and it caused my cancer. There is a clear link that some autoimmune diseases can lead to cancer.