Biological Mechanisms underlying the Inverse Association of Cancer and

 
   Lead Investigator:    Kelly Nudelman
   Institution      :    Indiana U
   E-Mail           :    kholohan@iu.edu
   Proposal ID      :    818



   Proposal Description:
   The goal of the proposed project is to investigate the biological mechanisms      underlying the inverse association of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases,      with the long-term goal of translating cancer-associated protective factors to    novel therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative diseases, particularly            Alzheimer???s disease.  Our hypothesis is that the reported inverse association   of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases will be associated with significant      differences in neuropathology. The proposed Aims will 1) investigate reported     cancer history from the National Alzheimer???s Coordinating Center (NACC)         Uniform Data Set (UDS) for association with Alzheimer???s disease diagnosis and   age of onset 2) analyze cancer history for association with neuropathology,       focusing on amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles and 3) conduct an         exploratory analysis to elucidate whether the inverse cancer occurrence and       neuropathology associations extend to other types of dementia present in the      data set. In addition, the investigator will apply for access to the              Alzheimer???s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC) to investigate genetic factors   underlying this association, to further the long-term translational goal of       identifying novel Alzheimer???s disease therapeutic targets.