It is already proven that patients with HH & IO are at increased risk for liver cancer. [See liver section for information specific to this.]  There is research that indicates that HH & IO may also be a contributing factor  to: 

OTHER CANCERS and DISEASES

• Annals of Internal Medicine SUPPLEMENT DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT 
  Diagnosis of Hemochromatosis, Annals of Internal Medicine, 1 December 1998. 129:925-931. Lawrie W. Powell, MD; D. Keith George, MD; Sharon M. McDonnell, MD; and Kris V. Kowdley, MD

• Causes for non-symptomatic hyperferritinemia in lymphoma patients
  Lymphoma Inflammation and Iron Overload Disorders By Susan S. Gallant

• Dietary Iron Supplements - Use or not to use?
  Nutrition Today James R. Connor John L. Beard 05-06-1997 There is little reason to support a general need for iron supplementation in the diet at any age. Perhaps this article and review of supplementation pros and cons should conclude with a new interpretation of an old saying: "It is better to wear out than to rust out;" don't expose your system to more iron than it needs.

• Effects of iron overload on the immune system. 
  Ann Clin Lab Sci 2000 Oct Department of Pathology, Marshall University and Huntington DVA Medical Center, West Virginia Increased body stores of iron in various clinical situations may tip the immunoregulatory balance unfavorably to allow increased growth rates of cancer cells and infectious organisms, and complicate the clinical management of preexisting acute and chronic diseases.

• Hemochromatosis:  Life Extension Foundation website.  Disease, Prevention & Treatment 3rd editon.  Dietary & Vitamin recommendations listed here including calcium for blocking of iron absorption.

• Hereditary Hemochromatosis and Cancer risk:  More fuel to the fire?  Gastroenterology Vol. 121, No. 5, November 2001  Pg. 1253 [a pdf file]  These data suggest an involvement of iron in carcinogenesis even in heterozygotes for HFE mutations. 

• Increased cancer risk in a cohort of 230 patients with hereditary hemochromatosis in comparison to matched control patients with non-iron-related chronic liver disease. 
  Hepatology 2001 Mar In conclusion, patients with HH are at high risk of both liver cancer and other malignancies, which should be carefully sought during follow-up.

• Iron catalyzed oxidative damage, in spite of normal ferritin and transferrin saturation levels and its possible role in Werner's syndrome, Parkinson's disease, cancer, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. Med Hypotheses 2000 Sep the disease is often overlooked by physicians, until several organs have been damaged permanently (heart, liver, brain, pancreas, kidneys, spleen, etc.). Moreover, since ferritin, transferrin saturation and hematocrit levels are not directly related to cellular iron levels, and since excess iron can wreak havoc in the cell, we can conclude that there is a need for a better way to evaluate intracellular iron levels and especially the intracellular free iron levels by a non-invasive technique.

• Iron and colorectal cancer risk: human studies  Nutr Rev 2001 May Because iron is broadly supplemented in the American diet, the benefits of iron supplementation need to be measured against the long-term risks of increased iron exposure, one of which may be increased risk of colorectal cancer.

• Iron Loading and Disease Surveillance
  Eugene D. Weinberg   Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana   Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Excessive iron in specific tissues and cells (iron loading) promotes development of infection, neoplasia, cardiomyopathy, arthropathy, and various endocrine and possibly neurodegenerative disorders.

• Iron: 'Too Much Is A Problem' by Joseph B. Verrengia [News Science Writer]  High levels of iron, already considered to be a major risk factor in heart attacks, are being implicated in the progression of AIDS, Lou Gehrig's disease and cancer.   "Iron will be the cholesterol of the 1990s," McCord predicts, ". . .most people don't know their iron status."

• Metastatic carcinomatous cirrhosis and hepatic hemosiderosis in a patient heterozygous for the H63D genotype.  Arch Pathol Lab Med 2001 Aug . The possibility of cirrhosis-associated hemosiderosis secondary to an iron metabolism abnormality associated with the H63D mutation of the HFE gene is proposed.

• Most People Get Too Much Not Too Little Iron   Optimal Wellness Center Issue 200 March 7, 2001 Dr. Joseph Mercola.  DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT: I have warned about the dangers of iron many times before in this newsletter. It is a potentially dangerous supplement and it needs to be used very cautiously, especially in those with an increased risk of heart disease.

• Risk of neoplastic and other diseases among people with heterozygosity for hereditary hemochromatosis. Cancer. 1995 Sep 1 . Heterozygosity for HH is associated with increased risk for colorectal neoplasia, diabetes, hematologic malignancy, and gastric cancer

• Risk of disease in siblings of patients with hereditary hemochromatosis Digestion 2001

• The case for iron repletion as a promoter in testicular cancer.
  Med Hypotheses. 1998 Aug; Evidence to support this hypothesis includes the following: (a) the iron-related mechanism of drugs used in the treatment of testicular cancer, (b) dietary associations with disease frequency, (c) the similarity of time course between historic increases in testicular cancer incidence and dietary iron availability, and (d) potential genetic associations with hemochromatosis.

• Weinberg, E.D. · Publications of Dr. E.D. Weinberg regarding iron and cancer.  Sue Gallant has  placed Dr. Weinberg's articles online here for us to read.  These are excellent & certainly worth the time to read them!  Titles included are: 
  Weinberg's Iron Loading and Disease Surveillance 
  Iron Therapy and Cancer (page 1 of 4) 
  Iron and Cancer ... a dangerous mix (Page 1 of 1) 
  Development of Clinical Methods... (Page 1 of 7) 
  The role of iron and cancer (Page 1) 

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