Peer-reviewed Article
Ethnohistory, genetics, and cancer mortality in Europeans
Abstract
Geographic variation in cancer rates is thought to be the result of two major factors: environmental agents varying spatially and the attributes, genetic or cultural, of the populations inhabiting the areas studied. These attributes in turn result from the history of the populations in question. We had previously constructed an ethnohistorical database for Europe since 2200 B.C., permitting estimates of the ethnic composition of modern European populations. We were able to show that these estimates correlate with genetic distances. In this study, we wanted to see whether they also correlate with cancer rates. We employed two data sets of cancer mortalities from 42 types of cancer for the European Economic Community and for Central Europe. We subjected spatial differences in cancer mortalities, genetic, ethnohistorical, and geographic distances to matrix permutation tests to determine the magnitude and significance of their association. Our findings are that distances in cancer mortalities are correlated more with ethnohistorical distances than with genetic distances. Possibly the cancer rates may be affected by loci other than the genetic systems available to us, and/or by cultural factors mediated by the ethnohistorical differences. We find it remarkable that patterns of frequently ancient ethnic admixture are still reflected in modern cancer mortalities. Partial correlations with geography suggest that local environmental factors affect the mortalities as well.
Cancer rates vary geographically and differ among diverse ethnic units (1, 2). In trying to elucidate the causes for such differences, epidemiologists distinguish between genetic, cultural, and environmental factors. Genetic factors comprise specific cancer-causing or predisposing genes, as well as others whose frequencies may serve only to estimate genetic distances between populations, as in this study. Cultural factors known to affect cancer rates include dietary habits, sexual practices, occupational practices, etc. Ethnic differences encompass both genetic and cultural components. Geographic differences, insofar as they do not reflect the populations that inhabit the areas being compared, may represent environmental contrasts.
Here we shall test whether measures of ethnohistorical differences between populations are correlated with their differences in mortality rates due to various cancers. Next, we shall try to hold constant the effects of genetic differences among these populations, and also of geography. We shall also compare the effects of ethnohistory with those of genetics.
Full Citation
Sokal, R.R., N.L. Oden, M.S. Rosenberg, and D. DiGiovanni (1997) Ethnohistory, genetics, and cancer mortality in Europeans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 94(23):12728–12731.
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PMID: 9356518
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