Food abundance in men before puberty predicts a range of cancers in grandsons

This study investigates the hypothesis that pre-pubertal food abundance in paternal grandfathers may trigger a transgenerational effect on cancer events in their grandsons. Analyzing data from the Uppsala Multigenerational Study (1915–1929), researchers found that variation in harvests and food access in the grandparental generation (G0) predicted cancer occurrence in the grandchild generation (G2). Specifically, abundance among paternal grandfathers, but not other grandparents, predicted various cancers, suggesting a male-line transgenerational effect possibly acquired during early embryonic development. No such transgenerational influence was observed in the middle generation (G1).

Denny Vagerö, Agneta Cederström, Gerard J. van den Berg