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Food abundance in men before puberty predicts a range of cancers in grandsons

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  • Denny Vågerö

    (Stockholm University)

  • Agneta Cederström

    (Stockholm University)

  • Gerard J. Berg

    (University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen)

Abstract

Nutritional conditions early in human life may influence phenotypic characteristics in later generations. A male-line transgenerational pathway, triggered by the early environment, has been postulated with support from animal and a small number of human studies. Here we analyse individuals born in Uppsala Sweden 1915–29 with linked data from their children and parents, which enables us to explore the hypothesis that pre-pubertal food abundance may trigger a transgenerational effect on cancer events. We used cancer registry and cause-of-death data to analyse 3422 cancer events in grandchildren (G2) by grandparental (G0) food access. We show that variation in harvests and food access in G0 predicts cancer occurrence in G2 in a specific way: abundance among paternal grandfathers, but not any other grandparent, predicts cancer occurrence in grandsons but not in granddaughters. This male-line response is observed for several groups of cancers, suggesting a general susceptibility, possibly acquired in early embryonic development. We observed no transgenerational influence in the middle generation.

Suggested Citation

  • Denny Vågerö & Agneta Cederström & Gerard J. Berg, 2022. "Food abundance in men before puberty predicts a range of cancers in grandsons," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-35217-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35217-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Modin, Bitte & Koupil, Ilona & Vågerö, Denny, 2009. "The impact of early twentieth century illegitimacy across three generations. Longevity and intergenerational health correlates," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(9), pages 1633-1640, May.
    5. Elmar W. Tobi & Jelle J. Goeman & Ramin Monajemi & Hongcang Gu & Hein Putter & Yanju Zhang & Roderick C. Slieker & Arthur P. Stok & Peter E. Thijssen & Fabian Müller & Erik W. van Zwet & Christoph Boc, 2014. "DNA methylation signatures link prenatal famine exposure to growth and metabolism," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 1-14, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yang, Jinyang & Chen, Xi, 2022. "Grandfathers and Grandsons: Social Security Expansion and Child Health in China," IZA Discussion Papers 15239, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Costa, Dora L., 2023. "Overweight grandsons and grandfathers’ starvation exposure," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).

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