TY - JOUR
T1 - Birth weight, sex and childhood cancer
T2 - a report from the United Kingdom Childhood Cancer Study
AU - Smith, Alexandra
AU - Lightfoot, Tracy
AU - Simpson, Jill
AU - Roman, Eve
AU - UKCCS Investigators
PY - 2009/11
Y1 - 2009/11
N2 - Birth weight has been linked to the risk of developing childhood cancer, in particular childhood leukaemia. However, despite many childhood cancers having a male predominance and boys generally weighing more than girls at birth few studies have reported sex-specific associations. The relationship between birth weight and childhood cancer risk was examined using information from a national case-control study. Children (0-14 years) newly diagnosed with cancer in GB were ascertained between 1991 and 1996 (n = 3651) and for comparison, controls matched on sex, month and year of birth were identified from primary care population registers (n = 6337). Birth weights were obtained from the Office of National Statistics for all targeted subjects born in England and Wales. Overall, cases were, on average, 30 g heavier at birth than controls (p = 0.003) with differences seen by cancer type; those diagnosed with hepatic tumours weighing around 500 g less than controls at birth (p < 0.0001) and those with leukaemia being, on average, 50 g heavier than those without (p, = 0.001). An interaction between birth weight and sex was found for acute leukaemia (chi(2) = 11.2, p = 0.04) and when data were stratified by sex, an association between high birth weight and risk of ALL was seen with girls (>4000 g, OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.38-2.50, chi(2) for trend 20.2, p < 0.0001). Our results support the hypothesis that birth weight is an important determinant for childhood cancer. In addition, the data are consistent with the notion that childhood leukaemia has a prenatal origin. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
AB - Birth weight has been linked to the risk of developing childhood cancer, in particular childhood leukaemia. However, despite many childhood cancers having a male predominance and boys generally weighing more than girls at birth few studies have reported sex-specific associations. The relationship between birth weight and childhood cancer risk was examined using information from a national case-control study. Children (0-14 years) newly diagnosed with cancer in GB were ascertained between 1991 and 1996 (n = 3651) and for comparison, controls matched on sex, month and year of birth were identified from primary care population registers (n = 6337). Birth weights were obtained from the Office of National Statistics for all targeted subjects born in England and Wales. Overall, cases were, on average, 30 g heavier at birth than controls (p = 0.003) with differences seen by cancer type; those diagnosed with hepatic tumours weighing around 500 g less than controls at birth (p < 0.0001) and those with leukaemia being, on average, 50 g heavier than those without (p, = 0.001). An interaction between birth weight and sex was found for acute leukaemia (chi(2) = 11.2, p = 0.04) and when data were stratified by sex, an association between high birth weight and risk of ALL was seen with girls (>4000 g, OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.38-2.50, chi(2) for trend 20.2, p < 0.0001). Our results support the hypothesis that birth weight is an important determinant for childhood cancer. In addition, the data are consistent with the notion that childhood leukaemia has a prenatal origin. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KW - Epidemiology
KW - Childhood cancer
KW - Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
KW - Birth weight
KW - LEUKEMIA
KW - HEPATOBLASTOMA
KW - RISK
KW - CHILDREN
KW - GROWTH
KW - UKCCS
KW - METAANALYSIS
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=70649091037&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.canep.2009.10.012
DO - 10.1016/j.canep.2009.10.012
M3 - Article
SN - 1055-9965
VL - 33
SP - 363
EP - 367
JO - Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention
JF - Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention
IS - 5
ER -