Association between Autism Spectrum Disorder and Cancer - a Review from the Literature

Abstract

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is neurodevelopmental polygenic disorder with strong genetic component. In the adult period, it is associated with many chronic diseases including diabetes, hypertension, car-diovascular disease, and cancer. The aim of this article is to show possible connection between autism spectrum disorder and some kinds of can-cers, and to show the possible pathways for prevention and treatment.Methodology: The PubMed and Google Scholar databases were searched using the keywords: autism spectrum disorder, genetics, cancer, prevention and treatment.Results: Autism spectrum disorder is associated with high rates of genomic aberrations, including chromosomal rearrangements and de novo copy-number variations. Autism and cancer share 43 risk genes, suggesting that common mechanisms underlying the functions of some of these genes could conceivably be leveraged to develop therapies not just for cancer but for autism as well. Pleiotropy, whereby gene variants exert effects on multiple phenotypes, has been the source of increasing research attention with ASD and cancer. Germline loss-of-function PTEN mutations increase the rate of benign and malignant tumours and also manifest as ASD and macrocephaly. Conclusion: There might be an association between autism and specific forms of cancer, not in the pathophysio-logic mechanism, but only in involvement of certain genes in certain forms of cancer. Further epidemiologic research in large populations is needed to elucidate the association between autism and cancer and identify ex-planatory factors. Approved drugs targeting oncogenic pathways might also have therapeutic value for treating autism spectrum disorder.