People With Downs Syndrome Rarely Get Cancer

Boston (HealthKnowItAll) - According to a new study, people living with Down’s syndrome are at an decreased risk of developing cancer.

This is a very interesting find, one that for many health experts is worth looking into.

Down’s syndrome is the leading cause of mental retardation, and effects up to 1 in every 700 births.

A study of people living with the condition, finds that Down’s syndrome patients have an extra copy of a gene which actually blocks the ability of cancer tumors to feed themselves.

People living with the condition, have a third copy of chromosome 21, which gives them extra copies of more than 230 genes.

“It is, perhaps, inspiring that the Down’s syndrome population provides us with new insight into mechanisms that regulate cancer growth,” researchers from Harvard University wrote in the journal Nature.

Researchers hope that their study findings could one day lead to new cancer treatments.