Breastfeeding and risk of childhood brain tumors: a report from the Childhood Cancer and Leukemia International Consortium

Jeremy M Schraw; Eleni Th Petridou; Audrey Bonaventure; John D Dockerty; Maria Karalexi; Evangelia Ntzani; Claire Infante-Rivard; Jacqueline Clavel; Paige M Bracci; Roberta McKean-Cowdin; Eve Roman; Eleanor Kane; Friederike Erdmann; Joachim Schüz; Beth A Mueller; Michael E Scheurer

doi:10.1007/s10552-023-01746-3

Breastfeeding and risk of childhood brain tumors: a report from the Childhood Cancer and Leukemia International Consortium

Jeremy M Schraw^*, Eleni Th Petridou, Audrey Bonaventure, John D Dockerty, Maria Karalexi, Evangelia Ntzani, Claire Infante-Rivard, Jacqueline Clavel, Paige M Bracci, Roberta McKean-Cowdin, Eve Roman, Eleanor Kane, Friederike Erdmann, Joachim Schüz, Beth A Mueller, Michael E Scheurer

^*Corresponding author for this work

Health Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

PURPOSE: Studies report mixed findings regarding the association of breastfeeding with childhood brain tumors (CBT), the leading causes of cancer-related mortality in young people. Our objective was to determine whether breastfeeding is associated with CBT incidence.

METHODS: We pooled data on N = 2610 cases with CBT (including 697 cases with astrocytoma, 447 cases with medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor [PNET], 167 cases with ependymoma) and N = 8128 age- and sex-matched controls in the Childhood Cancer and Leukemia International Consortium. We computed unconditional logistic regression models to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of CBT, astrocytoma, medulloblastoma/PNET, and ependymoma according to breastfeeding status, adjusting for study, sex, mode of delivery, birthweight, age at diagnosis/interview, maternal age at delivery, maternal educational attainment, and maternal race/ethnicity. We evaluated any breastfeeding versus none and breastfeeding ≥ 6 months versus none. We subsequently performed random effects meta-analysis to confirm our findings, identify potential sources of heterogeneity, and evaluate for outliers or influential studies.

RESULTS: Breastfeeding was reported by 64.8% of control mothers and 64.5% of case mothers and was not associated with CBT (OR 1.04, 95% CI 0.94-1.15), astrocytoma (OR 1.01, 95% CI 0.87-1.17), medulloblastoma/PNET (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.93-1.32), or ependymoma (OR 1.06, 95% CI 0.81-1.40). Results were similar when we restricted to breastfeeding ≥ 6 months and in meta-analyses.

CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that breastfeeding does not protect against CBT.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1005-1015
Number of pages	11
Journal	Cancer causes and control
Volume	34
Issue number	11
Early online date	8 Jul 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-023-01746-3
Publication status	Published - 1 Nov 2023

Bibliographical note

© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the University’s Research Publications and Open Access policy.

Access to Document

10.1007/s10552-023-01746-3

IF-CBT Manuscript v20230615_clean_plain_text_refs
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the University’s Research Publications and Open Access policy.
Accepted author manuscript, 309 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Schraw, J. M., Petridou, E. T., Bonaventure, A., Dockerty, J. D., Karalexi, M., Ntzani, E., Infante-Rivard, C., Clavel, J., Bracci, P. M., McKean-Cowdin, R., Roman, E., Kane, E., Erdmann, F., Schüz, J., Mueller, B. A., & Scheurer, M. E. (2023). Breastfeeding and risk of childhood brain tumors: a report from the Childhood Cancer and Leukemia International Consortium. Cancer causes and control, 34(11), 1005-1015. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-023-01746-3

@article{265231a824c8445796e88bc3f305ae05,

title = "Breastfeeding and risk of childhood brain tumors: a report from the Childhood Cancer and Leukemia International Consortium",

abstract = "PURPOSE: Studies report mixed findings regarding the association of breastfeeding with childhood brain tumors (CBT), the leading causes of cancer-related mortality in young people. Our objective was to determine whether breastfeeding is associated with CBT incidence.METHODS: We pooled data on N = 2610 cases with CBT (including 697 cases with astrocytoma, 447 cases with medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor [PNET], 167 cases with ependymoma) and N = 8128 age- and sex-matched controls in the Childhood Cancer and Leukemia International Consortium. We computed unconditional logistic regression models to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of CBT, astrocytoma, medulloblastoma/PNET, and ependymoma according to breastfeeding status, adjusting for study, sex, mode of delivery, birthweight, age at diagnosis/interview, maternal age at delivery, maternal educational attainment, and maternal race/ethnicity. We evaluated any breastfeeding versus none and breastfeeding ≥ 6 months versus none. We subsequently performed random effects meta-analysis to confirm our findings, identify potential sources of heterogeneity, and evaluate for outliers or influential studies.RESULTS: Breastfeeding was reported by 64.8% of control mothers and 64.5% of case mothers and was not associated with CBT (OR 1.04, 95% CI 0.94-1.15), astrocytoma (OR 1.01, 95% CI 0.87-1.17), medulloblastoma/PNET (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.93-1.32), or ependymoma (OR 1.06, 95% CI 0.81-1.40). Results were similar when we restricted to breastfeeding ≥ 6 months and in meta-analyses.CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that breastfeeding does not protect against CBT.",

author = "Schraw, {Jeremy M} and Petridou, {Eleni Th} and Audrey Bonaventure and Dockerty, {John D} and Maria Karalexi and Evangelia Ntzani and Claire Infante-Rivard and Jacqueline Clavel and Bracci, {Paige M} and Roberta McKean-Cowdin and Eve Roman and Eleanor Kane and Friederike Erdmann and Joachim Sch{\"u}z and Mueller, {Beth A} and Scheurer, {Michael E}",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the University{\textquoteright}s Research Publications and Open Access policy. ",

year = "2023",

month = nov,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1007/s10552-023-01746-3",

language = "English",

volume = "34",

pages = "1005--1015",

journal = "Cancer causes and control",

issn = "0957-5243",

publisher = "Springer",

number = "11",

}

Schraw, JM, Petridou, ET, Bonaventure, A, Dockerty, JD, Karalexi, M, Ntzani, E, Infante-Rivard, C, Clavel, J, Bracci, PM, McKean-Cowdin, R, Roman, E , Kane, E, Erdmann, F, Schüz, J, Mueller, BA & Scheurer, ME 2023, 'Breastfeeding and risk of childhood brain tumors: a report from the Childhood Cancer and Leukemia International Consortium', Cancer causes and control, vol. 34, no. 11, pp. 1005-1015. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-023-01746-3

TY - JOUR

T1 - Breastfeeding and risk of childhood brain tumors

T2 - a report from the Childhood Cancer and Leukemia International Consortium

AU - Schraw, Jeremy M

AU - Petridou, Eleni Th

AU - Bonaventure, Audrey

AU - Dockerty, John D

AU - Karalexi, Maria

AU - Ntzani, Evangelia

AU - Infante-Rivard, Claire

AU - Clavel, Jacqueline

AU - Bracci, Paige M

AU - McKean-Cowdin, Roberta

AU - Roman, Eve

AU - Kane, Eleanor

AU - Erdmann, Friederike

AU - Schüz, Joachim

AU - Mueller, Beth A

AU - Scheurer, Michael E

N1 - © 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the University’s Research Publications and Open Access policy.

PY - 2023/11/1

Y1 - 2023/11/1

N2 - PURPOSE: Studies report mixed findings regarding the association of breastfeeding with childhood brain tumors (CBT), the leading causes of cancer-related mortality in young people. Our objective was to determine whether breastfeeding is associated with CBT incidence.METHODS: We pooled data on N = 2610 cases with CBT (including 697 cases with astrocytoma, 447 cases with medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor [PNET], 167 cases with ependymoma) and N = 8128 age- and sex-matched controls in the Childhood Cancer and Leukemia International Consortium. We computed unconditional logistic regression models to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of CBT, astrocytoma, medulloblastoma/PNET, and ependymoma according to breastfeeding status, adjusting for study, sex, mode of delivery, birthweight, age at diagnosis/interview, maternal age at delivery, maternal educational attainment, and maternal race/ethnicity. We evaluated any breastfeeding versus none and breastfeeding ≥ 6 months versus none. We subsequently performed random effects meta-analysis to confirm our findings, identify potential sources of heterogeneity, and evaluate for outliers or influential studies.RESULTS: Breastfeeding was reported by 64.8% of control mothers and 64.5% of case mothers and was not associated with CBT (OR 1.04, 95% CI 0.94-1.15), astrocytoma (OR 1.01, 95% CI 0.87-1.17), medulloblastoma/PNET (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.93-1.32), or ependymoma (OR 1.06, 95% CI 0.81-1.40). Results were similar when we restricted to breastfeeding ≥ 6 months and in meta-analyses.CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that breastfeeding does not protect against CBT.

AB - PURPOSE: Studies report mixed findings regarding the association of breastfeeding with childhood brain tumors (CBT), the leading causes of cancer-related mortality in young people. Our objective was to determine whether breastfeeding is associated with CBT incidence.METHODS: We pooled data on N = 2610 cases with CBT (including 697 cases with astrocytoma, 447 cases with medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor [PNET], 167 cases with ependymoma) and N = 8128 age- and sex-matched controls in the Childhood Cancer and Leukemia International Consortium. We computed unconditional logistic regression models to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of CBT, astrocytoma, medulloblastoma/PNET, and ependymoma according to breastfeeding status, adjusting for study, sex, mode of delivery, birthweight, age at diagnosis/interview, maternal age at delivery, maternal educational attainment, and maternal race/ethnicity. We evaluated any breastfeeding versus none and breastfeeding ≥ 6 months versus none. We subsequently performed random effects meta-analysis to confirm our findings, identify potential sources of heterogeneity, and evaluate for outliers or influential studies.RESULTS: Breastfeeding was reported by 64.8% of control mothers and 64.5% of case mothers and was not associated with CBT (OR 1.04, 95% CI 0.94-1.15), astrocytoma (OR 1.01, 95% CI 0.87-1.17), medulloblastoma/PNET (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.93-1.32), or ependymoma (OR 1.06, 95% CI 0.81-1.40). Results were similar when we restricted to breastfeeding ≥ 6 months and in meta-analyses.CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that breastfeeding does not protect against CBT.

U2 - 10.1007/s10552-023-01746-3

DO - 10.1007/s10552-023-01746-3

M3 - Article

C2 - 37421504

SN - 0957-5243

VL - 34

SP - 1005

EP - 1015

JO - Cancer causes and control

JF - Cancer causes and control

IS - 11

ER -