Risk for ALL increased with paternal age > or= 35 years

: Cancer. 1991 Sep 15;68(6):1351-5. Links

Maternal reproductive history and birth characteristics in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.Kaye SA, Robison LL, Smithson WA, Gunderson P, King FL, Neglia JP.
Division of Epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455.


In a historical cohort study of all singleton live births in Northern Ireland from 1971-86 (n=434,933) associations between early life factors and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia were investigated. Multivariable analyses showed a positive association between high paternal age (> or =35 years) and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (relative risk=1.49; 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.96--2.31) but no association with maternal age. High birth weight (> or =3500 g) was positively associated with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (relative risk=1.66; 95% CI=1.18--2.33). Children of mothers with a previous miscarriage or increased gestation (> or =40 weeks) had reduced risks of ALL (respective relative risks=0.49; 95% CI=0.29--0.80, and 0.67; 95% CI=0.48--0.94). Children born into more crowded households (> or =1 person per room) had substantially lower risks than children born into less crowded homes with also some evidence of a lower risk for children born into homes with three adults (relative risks=0.56; 95% CI=0.35-0.91 and 0.58; 95% CI=0.21-1.61 respectively). These findings indicate that several early life factors, including living conditions in childhood and maternal miscarriage history, influence risk of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in childhood. Copyright 2002 The Cancer Research Campaign

PMID: 11875699 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Paternal Age >39 increases risk for ALL compared to 25-29

Cancer Causes Control. 2002 Feb;13(1):15-25.
Birth characteristics, maternal reproductive history, hormone use during pregnancy, and risk of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia by immunophenotype (United States).


Ou SX, Han D, Severson RK, Chen Z, Neglia JP, Reaman GH, Buckley JD, Robison LL.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA. Xiao-Ou.Shu@mcmail.vanderbilt.edu

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the associations of birth characteristics and maternal reproductive factors with risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) by immunophenotypic subtypes. METHODS: Data collected from a case-control study including 1842 ALL cases (age < 15 years) and 1986 individually matched controls were analyzed. Exposure information was obtained through telephone interviews of parents. RESULTS: Factors associated with risk of ALL from all subgroups combined included high birth weight (OR = 1.4, 95% CI = 1.1-1.8), high birth order (OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.3-3.0 for fourth-born child compared to first-born child). young maternal age (<20 compared to 25-29, OR = 1.4, 95% CI = 1.1-1.9), advanced paternal age (>39 compared to 25-29, OR = 1.4, 95% CI = 1.0-1.9), induced abortion prior to the index pregnancy (OR = 1.2, 95% CI = 1.0-1.4), and oral contraceptive use during the index pregnancy (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.0-2.2) with children under the age of 2 (OR = 5.1, 95% CI = 1.0-24.7) being the predominantly affected group. Risk of early pre-B-cell ALL increased with advanced paternal age (OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.1-2.7) and high birth order (OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.1-3.6), while risk of pre-B-cell ALL increased with both younger (OR = 3.4, 95% CI = 1.4-8.4) and advanced maternal age (OR = 2.6, 95% CI = 1.1-5.9). T-cell ALL was associated with high birth weight (OR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.1-5.5) and history of induced abortion (OR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.3-4.5). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that the association of ALL with birth characteristics and maternal reproductive factors varies with the immunophenotype of the ALL. Future studies are needed to better understand the effect of maternal hormone in the development of subtype of childhood ALL.

PMID: 11899114 [PubMed - indexed