In this study, reported at the annual meeting of the American
Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the researchers also
associated chicken pox infection with a significantly reduced
risk of developing brain tumors. The researchers say the
findings suggest that a small amount of inflammation in the
brain may rev up the immune system enough to protect against
brain tumor development. But they stress that no one should give
up antihistamines or shun use of a chicken pox vaccine because
of this study. "Brain tumors are exceedingly rare, and many,
many people use antihistamines, so we certainly are not
suggesting a direct connection between the two, or between
chicken pox and tumors," says the study's lead author, Melissa
Bondy, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Epidemiology.
"What this study may do is help us begin to understand if the
immune system plays a role in development of different kinds of
brain tumors." "Our long-term goal is to look at genes that may
be increasing or reducing risk of developin