e22060 Background: The contribution of inflammation to carcinogenesis has been reported. Allergic diseases are now recognized as a systemic inflammatory process. We investigated whether common allergic symptoms are associated with cancer risk. Methods: The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) is a stratified probability sample of the U.S. population collected during 1988–1994. The prevalence of cancer excluding skin cancer was obtained by personal medical interview. Allergic symptoms were categorized into three categories: no symptoms (NO), rhinitis/conjunctivitis without wheezing (RC), and wheezing (WZ). Other risk factors for cancer were defined by NHANES III questionnaire and results of physical examination. Multivariate logistic regression was used to obtain odds ratios of cancer according to the existence of allergic symptoms adjusted for other possible confounding variables considering complicated sampling methods and weights. Results: 4,558 female adults were selected out of 5076 female adults aged ≥40 years who participated in both interview and physical examination. Cancer was present in 7.41% (n=301). 36.3% (n=1,893) of subjects did not have any allergic symptoms (NO), 47.6% (n=1,979) showed RC, and 16.2% (n=726), WZ. The prevalence of cancer was 5.43% in NO, 7.63% in RC, and 11.23 in WZ (p=0.006). Unadjusted odds ratios of cancer were 1.44 (95% CI: 0.99–2.08, p=0.053) in RC and 2.20 (1.27–3.80, p=0.006) in WZ compared with NO. Odds ratios are 1.49 (1.00–2.22, p=0.048) in RC and 2.08 (1.11–3.89) in WZ adjusting for age, race, education, income, asthma, COPD, C-reactive protein, obesity, smoking, alcohol drinking, physical inactivity, and menopausal status. In subgroup analysis, adjusted odds ratios of breast cancer were 1.89 (1.04–3.42, p=0.037) in RC and 2.08 (0.90–4.78, p=0.084) in WZ, while other cancers showed no statistically significant associations. Conclusions: Common allergic symptoms, even symptoms of allergic rhinitis of conjunctivitis, may be associated with increased risk of cancer in female adults. It supports the hypothesis that systemic inflammation mediators may trigger or promote cancer development in all parts of the body. However, prospective studies are required to validate our findings. No significant financial relationships to disclose.