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The potential etiologic role of household pesticide exposures was examined in the Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study. A total of 162 patients (0-14 years old) with newly diagnosed leukemia were rapidly ascertained during 1995-1999, and 162 matched control subjects were randomly selected from the birth registry. The use of professional pest control services at any time from 1 year before birth to 3 years after was associated with a significantly increased risk of childhood leukemia [odds ratio (OR) = 2.8; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.4-5.7], and the exposure during year 2 was associated with the highest risk (OR = 3.6; 95% CI, 1.6-8.3). The ORs for exposure to insecticides during the 3 months before pregnancy, pregnancy, and years 1, 2, and 3 were 1.8 (95% CI, 1.1-3.1), 2.1 (95% CI, 1.3-3.5), 1.7 (95% CI, 1.0-2.9), 1.6 (95% CI, 1.0-2.7), and 1.2 (95% CI, 0.7-2.1), respectively. Insecticide exposures early in life appear to be more significant than later exposures, and the highest risk was observed for exposure during pregnancy. Additionally, more frequent exposure to insecticides was associated with a higher risk. In contrast to insecticides, the association between herbicides and leukemia was weak and nonsignificant. Pesticides were also grouped based on where they were applied. Exposure to indoor pesticides was associated with an increased risk, whereas no significant association was observed for exposure to outdoor pesticides. The findings suggest that exposure to household pesticides is associated with an elevated risk of childhood leukemia and further indicate the importance of the timing and location of exposure.

Recent reports have established the prenatal origin of leukemia translocations and resultant fusion genes in some patients, including MLL-AF4 translocations in infants and TEL-AML1 translocations in children. We now report evidence for the prenatal origin of a translocation in childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The t(8;21) AML1-ETO translocations were sequenced at the genomic level in 10 diagnostic leukemia samples from children with available neonatal Guthrie blood spots. Clonotypic genomic AML1-ETO sequences were detected in the Guthrie spots for 5 individuals, providing unambiguous evidence of prenatal origin in these cases. Two of these patients were older than 10 years of age at diagnosis, indicative of a protracted postnatal latency. Three of the patients were assessed for the persistence of genomic fusion sequences in complete clinical remission samples and were found to be positive. These data indicate that t(8;21) in childhood AML can arise in utero, possibly as an initiating event in childhood AML, and may establish a long-lived or stable parental clone that requires additional secondary genetic alterations to cause leukemia.

BackgroundThe Philadelphia chromosome−negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) myelofibrosis (MF), polycythemia vera (PV), and essential thrombocythemia (ET) negatively affect patient quality of life (QoL) and are associated with increased risk of mortality.MethodsThe MPN Landmark survey was conducted from May to July 2014 in patients with MF, PV, or ET under active management in the United States. The survey assessed respondent perceptions of disease burden and treatment management and included questions on overall disease burden, QoL, activities of daily living, and work productivity. Outcomes were further analyzed by calculated (ie, not respondent-reported) prognostic risk score and symptom severity quartile.ResultsThe survey was completed by 813 respondents (MF, n = 207; PV, n = 380; ET, n = 226). The median respondent age in each of the 3 MPN subtypes ranged from 62 to 66 years; median disease duration was 4 to 7 years. Many respondents reported that they had experienced MPN-related symptoms ≥1 year before diagnosis (MF, 49 %; PV, 61 %; ET, 58 %). Respondents also reported that MPN-related symptoms reduced their QoL, including respondents with low prognostic risk scores (MF, 67 %; PV, 62 %; ET, 57 %) and low symptom severity (MF, 51 %; PV, 33 %; ET, 15 %). Many respondents, including those with a low prognostic risk score, reported that their MPN had caused them to cancel planned activities or call in sick to work at least once in the preceding 30 days (cancel planned activities: MF, 56 %; PV, 35 %; ET, 35 %; call in sick: MF, 40 %; PV, 21 %; ET, 23 %).ConclusionsThese findings of the MPN Landmark survey support previous research about the symptom burden experienced by patients with MPNs and are the first to detail the challenges that patients with MPNs experience related to reductions in activities of daily living and work productivity.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-016-2208-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

ObjectiveTo develop a reference of population-based gestational age-specific birth weight percentiles for contemporary Chinese.MethodsBirth weight data was collected by the China National Population-based Birth Defects Surveillance System. A total of 1,105,214 live singleton births aged ≥28 weeks of gestation without birth defects during 2006–2010 were included. The lambda-mu-sigma method was utilized to generate percentiles and curves.ResultsGestational age-specific birth weight percentiles for male and female infants were constructed separately. Significant differences were observed between the current reference and other references developed for Chinese or non-Chinese infants.ConclusionThere have been moderate increases in birth weight percentiles for Chinese infants of both sexes and most gestational ages since 1980s, suggesting the importance of utilizing an updated national reference for both clinical and research purposes.

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BACKGROUND. Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) became reportable to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program (the United States cancer surveillance program) in 2001. This provided the first opportunity to examine the incidence and survival of patients with MDS in the United States using a large, population‐based database. METHODS. The SEER 17 regions public‐use database (November 2005 submission) was accessed to obtain data on the frequency, incidence, and survival of patients with MDS. Geographic areas were selected for inclusion in the SEER Program based on their ability to operate and maintain a high‐quality, population‐based cancer reporting system and for their epidemiologically significant population subgroups. RESULTS. SEER data from 2001 through 2003 indicated that the risk of MDS increased with age, and approximately 86% of MDS cases were diagnosed in individuals aged ≥60 years (median age at diagnosis = 76 years). Men had a significantly higher incidence rate than women (4.5 vs 2.7 per 100,000 per year). Among racial groups, white individuals had the highest incidence rate. In 2003, approximately 10,300 incident cases of MDS were diagnosed in the United States. The survival of MDS patients was poor, with an observed 3‐year survival rate of only 35% (5‐year survival data were not available at the time of the current report). Male patients and patients who were diagnosed at an older age had significantly worse survival. MDS survival also varied by clinical subtype, and the survival of patients who had refractory anemia was somewhat worse than reported previously. The availability of descriptive epidemiologic data on MDS can be used now to facilitate much needed research on the etiology and outcome of MDS. CONCLUSIONS. The current results indicated that >10,000 incident cases of MDS are diagnosed annually in the United States, and the survival of patients with MDS is poor. The availability of descriptive epidemiologic data on MDS can be used now to facilitate much needed research on the etiology and outcomes of MDS. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.

Objectives Organophosphates (OP) are among the most commonly used insecticides. OPs have been linked to cancer risk in some epidemiologic studies, which have been largely conducted in predominantly male populations. We evaluated personal use of specific OPs and cancer incidence among female spouses of pesticide applicators in the prospective Agricultural Health Study cohort. Methods At enrollment (1993–1997) spouses provided information about ever use of specific pesticides, including ten OPs, demographic information, reproductive health history, and other potential confounders. We used Poisson regression to estimate relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) for all cancers diagnosed through 2010 for North Carolina and 2011 for Iowa. Results Among 30,003 women, 25.9% reported OP use, and 718 OP-exposed women were diagnosed with cancer during the follow-up period. Any OP use was associated with an elevated risk of breast cancer (RR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.43). Malathion, the most commonly reported OP, was associated with increased risk of thyroid cancer (RR = 2.04, 95% CI: 1.14, 3.63) and decreased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (RR = 0.64, 95% CI: 0.41, 0.99). Diazinon use was associated with ovarian cancer (RR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.02, 3.43). Conclusions We observed increased risk with OP use for several hormonally-related cancers, including breast, thyroid, and ovary, suggesting potential for hormonally-mediated effects. This study represents the first comprehensive analysis of OP use and cancer risk among women, and thus a need for further evaluation.