Gluten implicated as a cancer risk

This study was published in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition 2004 Feb;38(2):177-80

Study title and authors:
Gluten-free diet has a beneficial effect on chromosome instability in lymphocytes of children with coeliac disease.
Kolacek S, Jadresin O, Petković I, Misak Z, Sonicki Z, Booth IW.
Referral Center for Paediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition, Children's Hospital Zagreb, University of Zagreb Medical School, Zagreb, Croatia. siki@inet.hr

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14734880
 
Children with coeliac disease (CD) have an increased number of chromosome abnormalities in their white blood cells. Whether genetically determined or a secondary phenomenon in CD, chromosome abnormalities may be involved in the predisposition to cancer in CD patients.

The aim of the study was to follow a group of children with CD in whom the initial frequency of chromosome abnormalities at diagnosis was known and to measure the same variable after a minimum of 2 years on a gluten-free diet.
 
The authors found that the frequency of chromosome aberrations in peripheral white blood cells of patients with CD decreased significantly on a gluten-free diet.

They concluded that chromosome instability was a secondary phenomenon, possibly caused by chronic intestinal inflammation (caused by gluten).

AMAZON UK Is Gluten Making Me Ill?: A 14-day Programme to Reduce Symptoms of Gluten Sensitivity and Restore Your Health and Vitality
AMAZON USA The Gluten Connection: How Gluten Sensitivity May Be Sabotaging Your Health--And What You Can Do to Take Control Now