Mycobacterium spp. exposure, childhood vaccinations, and early childhood brain and CNS cancers

Q: What trend in early childhood BCNS cancer incidence does the article highlight?

It notes that with global improvements in general hygiene, early childhood (0–4 years) brain and central nervous system cancers are increasing.

Q: How do the authors evaluate the relationship between childhood vaccine coverage and BCNS cancer incidence?

Using European regional epidemiological data across countries with different childhood vaccination policies, they report that coverage of seven major childhood vaccines does not significantly associate with BCNS cancer incidences in the 0–4 year cohort.

Q: What immune-related factor shows a consistent protective association?

Prevailing tuberculin immunoreactivity, reflecting heterologous cell-mediated immunity from Mycobacterium spp. exposure including BCG vaccination, is found consistently negatively correlated with BCNS cancer incidence in countries mandating neonatal BCG vaccination.

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Hazel

Globally, improving hygiene is linked to a rising incidence of early childhood (0–4 years) brain and central nervous system (BCNS) cancers, while the protective immunological variables for most cases remain unclear. The article considers hypotheses that declining exposure to common microbes/pathogens and childhood vaccination may influence immune “training.” Analyzing European epidemiological data with differing childhood vaccination policies, it finds vaccine coverage shows no significant association with BCNS incidence, but neonatal tuberculin immunoreactivity correlates negatively in countries mandating BCG.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Key Findings and Epidemiological Comparison

Role of BCG and Mycobacterium Exposure

Implications and Future Research

TYPE Opinion PUBLISHED 24 January 2025 DOI 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1497436 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Juan Manuel Mejia-Arangure, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico REVIEWED BY Mario Ernesto Cruz-Munoz, Autonomous University of the State of Morelos, Mexico *CORRESPONDENCE Samer Singh [samer.singh10@bhu.ac.in](samer.singh10@bhu.ac.in) RECEIVED 17 September 2024 ACCEPTED 02 January 2025 PUBLISHED 24 January 2025 CITATION Singh S and Singh RK (2025) Mycobacterium spp. exposure, childhood vaccinations, and early childhood brain and CNS cancers. Front. Immunol. 16:1497436 . doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1497436 COPYRIGHT © 2025 Singh and Singh. This is an openaccess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Mycobacterium spp. exposure, childhood vaccinations, and early childhood brain and CNS cancers Samer Singh 1* and Rakesh K. Singh 2 1Centre of Experimental Medicine & Surgery, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, 2 Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India Globally, with improvements in general hygiene, the incidence of early childhood (0-4Y-olds/<5Y-olds) brain and central nervous system (BCNS) cancers is increasing. Although immunological underpinning is suspected, the identiﬁcation of protective variables for the majority of BCNS cancer cases remains elusive. Extant hypotheses suggest a role for progressively diminishing exposure to common microbes/pathogens in the rise of childhood cancers in industrialized countries with improved hygiene. Natural exposure to common microbes/pathogens and childhood vaccinations help train the developing immune system of children to respond appropriately to future infections and maintain a healthy immune system. Considering the established role of childhood vaccinations in augmenting immunity, including “trained immunity," their protective role in pediatric cancers may be surmised. However, a lack of deﬁnitive theoretical and practical frameworks to explain conﬂicting observations has impaired progress. When we analyze the epidemiological data of European region countries with different childhood vaccination policies but more similar socioeconomic conditions, access to medical services, and genetic makeup as compared to other parts of the world, the coverage of seven major childhood (0-1Y-olds) vaccines does not signiﬁcantly associate with BCNS cancer incidences in the same cohort of 0-4Y-olds (2020) . However, interestingly, prevailing tuberculin immunoreactivity, a surrogate for the existence of heterologous cell-mediated immunity resulting from exposure to Mycobacterium spp., including Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination, for these populations, is found consistently negatively correlated with the BCNS cancer incidence in 0-4Y-olds for countries mandating neonatal BCG vaccination [r(24): -0.7226, p-value:<0 . 0001] . Seemingly, neonatal immunesystem priming by BCG and boosting by exposure to environmental Mycobacterium spp. appear protective in 0-4Y-olds. Exploration of BCNS cancer incidence and prevailing immune correlates in matched cohorts, along with prospective randomized controlled trials, may be warranted to conclusively ascertain the impact of childhood vaccinations and boosters (including natural exposure) on early childhood BCNS cancer incidence. KEYWORDS cancer discovery, pediatric cancer, brain and CNS cancer, childhood vaccinations, BCG vaccine, trained immunity, cancer prevention, protective variable Frontiers in Immunology 01 [frontiersin.org](frontiersin.

FAQs

What trend in early childhood BCNS cancer incidence does the article highlight?

It notes that with global improvements in general hygiene, early childhood (0–4 years) brain and central nervous system cancers are increasing.

How do the authors evaluate the relationship between childhood vaccine coverage and BCNS cancer incidence?

Using European regional epidemiological data across countries with different childhood vaccination policies, they report that coverage of seven major childhood vaccines does not significantly associate with BCNS cancer incidences in the 0–4 year cohort.

What immune-related factor shows a consistent protective association?

Prevailing tuberculin immunoreactivity, reflecting heterologous cell-mediated immunity from Mycobacterium spp. exposure including BCG vaccination, is found consistently negatively correlated with BCNS cancer incidence in countries mandating neonatal BCG vaccination.

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Hazel