Infectious exposure in the first years of life and risk of central nervous system tumours in children: analysis of birth order, childcare attendance and seasonality of birth

TY - JOUR

T1 - Infectious exposure in the first years of life and risk of central nervous system tumours in children: analysis of birth order, childcare attendance and seasonality of birth

AU - Schmidt, L S

AU - Kamper-Jørgensen, M

AU - Schmiegelow, K

AU - Johansen, C

AU - Lähteenmäki, P

AU - Träger, C

AU - Stokland, T

AU - Grell, Kathrine

AU - Gustafson, Gitte

AU - Kogner, P

AU - Sehested, Anne

AU - Schüz, J

PY - 2010/5/25

Y1 - 2010/5/25

N2 - Background:An infective, mostly viral basis has been found in different human cancers. To test the hypothesis of a possible infectious aetiology for central nervous system (CNS) tumours in children, we investigated the associations with proxy measures of exposure to infectious disease.Methods:In a large case-control study nested in the populations of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland of 4.4 million children, we studied the association of birth order and seasonal variation of birth with subsequent risk for CNS tumours. We identified 3983 children from the national cancer registries, and information on exposure was obtained from the high-quality national administrative health registries. We investigated the association between childcare attendance during the first 2 years of life and the risk for CNS tumours in a subset of Danish children with CNS tumours, using information from the Danish Childcare database.Results:We observed no association between birth order and risk of CNS tumours overall (odds ratio (OR) for second born or later born vs first born, 1.03; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.96-1.10) or by histological subgroup, and children with CNS tumours did not show a seasonal variation of birth that was distinct from that of the background population. Childcare attendance compared with homecare showed a slightly increased OR (1.29; 95% CI, 0.90-1.86) for CNS tumours, with the highest risk observed in children attending a crèche. The strongest association was observed for embryonal CNS tumours. We found no effect of age at enrolment or duration of enrolment in childcare.Conclusion: These results do not support the hypothesis that the burden of exposure to infectious disease in early childhood has an important role in the aetiology of paediatric CNS tumours.

AB - Background:An infective, mostly viral basis has been found in different human cancers. To test the hypothesis of a possible infectious aetiology for central nervous system (CNS) tumours in children, we investigated the associations with proxy measures of exposure to infectious disease.Methods:In a large case-control study nested in the populations of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland of 4.4 million children, we studied the association of birth order and seasonal variation of birth with subsequent risk for CNS tumours. We identified 3983 children from the national cancer registries, and information on exposure was obtained from the high-quality national administrative health registries. We investigated the association between childcare attendance during the first 2 years of life and the risk for CNS tumours in a subset of Danish children with CNS tumours, using information from the Danish Childcare database.Results:We observed no association between birth order and risk of CNS tumours overall (odds ratio (OR) for second born or later born vs first born, 1.03; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.96-1.10) or by histological subgroup, and children with CNS tumours did not show a seasonal variation of birth that was distinct from that of the background population. Childcare attendance compared with homecare showed a slightly increased OR (1.29; 95% CI, 0.90-1.86) for CNS tumours, with the highest risk observed in children attending a crèche. The strongest association was observed for embryonal CNS tumours. We found no effect of age at enrolment or duration of enrolment in childcare.Conclusion: These results do not support the hypothesis that the burden of exposure to infectious disease in early childhood has an important role in the aetiology of paediatric CNS tumours.

KW - Adolescent

KW - Astrocytoma

KW - Birth Order

KW - Case-Control Studies

KW - Central Nervous System Neoplasms

KW - Child

KW - Child Care

KW - Child, Preschool

KW - Communicable Diseases

KW - Denmark

KW - Female

KW - Finland

KW - Humans

KW - Infant

KW - Infant, Newborn

KW - Male

KW - Norway

KW - Parturition

KW - Risk

KW - Seasons

KW - Sweden

U2 - 10.1038/sj.bjc.6605679

DO - 10.1038/sj.bjc.6605679

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 20461079

SN - 0007-0920

VL - 102

SP - 1670

EP - 1675

JO - British Journal of Cancer

JF - British Journal of Cancer

IS - 11

ER -