{"id":23730,"date":"2025-03-11T12:38:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-11T13:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23730"},"modified":"2025-03-11T14:30:13","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T14:30:13","slug":"giving-blood-linked-to-lower-risk-of-pre-cancer-gene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23730","title":{"rendered":"Giving blood linked to lower risk of pre-cancer gene"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-component=\"byline-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new\" class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-0 haItSe\">\n<div class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-1 cjDa-dM\">52 minutes ago<\/p>\n<p><!--$!--><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 oYtVL dRvUPz dXDmtS\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 iQJDhl cCYQUA kItbpD\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Save<\/span><\/button><!--\/$--><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new-contributors\" class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-12 fcCDwR\">\n<div class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-5 evAEAB\">\n<div><span class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-7 kItaYD\">Philippa Roxby<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Health reporter<!-- --><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--$!--><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 oYtVL dRvUPz dXDmtS\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 iQJDhl cCYQUA kItbpD\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Save<\/span><\/button><!--\/$--><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 EXUng\">\n<div data-testid=\"hero-image\" class=\"sc-a34861b-1 jxzoZC\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/81fd48e0-fddb-11ef-ab73-2916b85f325b.jpg.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Getty Images A man wearing a yellow shirt lies on a couch giving blood with a tube attached to his arm, while holding a soft red ball in his hand \" class=\"sc-a34861b-0 efFcac\" \/><span class=\"sc-a34861b-2 hesJxn\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">People who give blood regularly are more likely to have genetic changes in their blood that could cut the risk of cancer developing, a study suggests.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The researchers, from the Francis Crick Institute, say the findings are &#8220;fascinating&#8221; and could help understanding of how and why blood cancers develop.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Their study compared the blood of two groups of healthy male donors in their 60s &#8211; the first had given blood three times a year for 40 years, the other only about five times in total.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Subtle genetic differences not linked to a high risk of blood cancer were present in more of the frequent-donor group &#8211; but because healthier people tend to give blood, this skews the picture.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">With age, the cells in the body &#8211; including the blood &#8211; naturally develop mutations, which increases the risk of diseases such as cancer developing. <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">When people donate blood, stem cells in the bone marrow make new blood cells to replace the lost blood &#8211; and this could shape the stem cells&#8217; genetic diversity.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The researchers found a similar level of natural genetic mutations in the blood of the two groups &#8211; 217 frequent and 212 irregular donors.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">But the type of mutation in stem cells was subtly different in:<!-- --><\/p>\n<ul class=\"sc-5c9c90b0-0 ggNdZQ\">\n<li class=\"sc-8d73edac-0 ezcCTE\">50% of the frequent donors<!-- --><\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-8d73edac-0 ezcCTE\">30% of the irregular donors<!-- --><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Analysed in the lab, this mutation grew in a different way in different environments to other mutations linked to diseases such as leukaemia, a type of blood cancer.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;It&#8217;s a type of mutation that is not associated with high risk of leukaemia development,&#8221; study author Dr Hector Huerga Encabo said.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">And when mice were injected with these human blood stem cells in the lab, the cells were found to be good at making red blood cells &#8211; a positive sign, Dr Encabo said.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"sc-518485e5-0 DkKTF\">Everyday things<!-- --><\/h2>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The research, published in the journal Blood, was conducted with scientists in Heidelberg and with the help of the German Red Cross blood donation centre.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">But the results do not prove donating blood reduces the chances of early blood cancer mutations developing.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;It might be that people who donate blood are more likely to be healthy if they&#8217;re eligible and this is also reflected in their blood-cell clones,&#8221; senior author Dominique Bonnet, who heads up a stem-cell laboratory at the Crick, said.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">And the research team now plans to analyse the blood of much larger numbers of people, including women.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The current findings are a reminder that little everyday things &#8211; how people&#8217;s environment changes &#8211; as well as their age, affects their tissues and blood, changing the stem cells, Dr Encabo said.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"sc-518485e5-0 DkKTF\">&#8216;Healthy-donor effect&#8217;<!-- --><\/h2>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">NHS Blood and Transplant said the research was &#8220;interesting&#8221; but further work was needed, because healthier people were more likely to donate.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;The &#8216;healthy-donor effect&#8217; makes it difficult to study donor health generally,&#8221; medical director Dr Lise Estcourt said.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;However, the most important thing is that people chose to donate to improve the health of others.&#8221;<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Current stocks were &#8220;critically low&#8221;, the organisation added.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"sc-518485e5-0 DkKTF\">Who can donate?<!-- --><\/h2>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">In the UK, fit and healthy 17-65-year-olds can give blood &#8211; if they meet all the other criteria &#8211; but not if they have had cancer, an organ transplant or tested positive for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), among other reasons.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">And some people may have to wait, for example if they have had a baby in the past six months or recently had a tattoo or piercing.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>52 minutes ago<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23730"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23734,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23730\/revisions\/23734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}