Risk Factors for Brain Tumors in Children

Abstract

An exploratory case-control study was conducted in 15 hospitals in the Baltimore, MD, SMSA of possible etiologic factors associated with brain tumors in children. Eighty-four children with brain tumors were compared to normal children and to children with other malignancies. Parents of these children were interviewed about a variety of possible etiologic factors. The findings included: 1) children with brain tumors as well as children with other cancers had a greater tendency than normal children to have been first births and to have had higher birth weights; 2) more children with brain tumors had a sibling with epilepsy or seizures than did normal children, and several of the mothers of children with brain tumors had themselves had epilepsy or a stroke at a relatively young age; 3) there were no significant differences between the groups with regard to several maternal characteristics, including smoking during pregnancy and prior radiation exposure; 4) more children with brain tumors and children with other cancers were found to have had exposures to insecticides than had normal children; 5) fewer children with brain tumors or with other cancers were reported to have had tonsillectomies than normal children; and 6) more of the children with brain tumors as well as the children with other malignancies were reported to have been exposed to farm animals and to sick pets. This exploratory study is one of the first case-control studies of the epidemiology of brain tumors in children, and the results suggest directions for future epidemiologic studies in this relatively uncharted field.

Childhood cancer and paternal employment in agriculture: the role of pesticides

“…Schwartzbaum et al, (1991) reported no association between parental use of pesticides in the garden between birth and diagnosis of Wilms' tumour (OR = 0.7, P = 0.30), whereas Olshan et al (1993) found a significant association between this tumour and household extermination of insects or pests in the 3 years before diagnosis (OR = 2.2, 95% CI = 1.2-3.8). Other studies have suggested that living on a farm during childhood or exposure to pesticides within the home environment may be associated with childhood bone cancer, brain cancer and leukaemia (Gold et al, 1979;Lowengart et al, 1987;Schwartzbaum et al, 1991;Buckley et al, 1994;Cordier et al, 1994;Leiss and Savitz, 1995;Meinert et al, 1996) and environmental pollution with pesticides has been suggested as a possible cause of childhood leukaemia in The Netherlands (Mulder et al, 1994).…”

The United Kingdom Childhood Cancer Study: objectives, materials and methods

“…Specific exposures suggested for specific sites or types of cancer other than ALL had, by 1990, included: chloramphenicol (Shu et al, 1987) and maternal drug use prior to or during pregnancy in relation to acute non-lymphoblastic leukaemia (Robison et al, 1989) barbiturates, and parental exposure to substances such as solvents (Gold and Gordis, 1978;Gold et al, 1979) and N-nitroso compounds (Preston-Martin et al, 1982) for central nervous system (CNS) tumours; and maternal exposures during or just prior to pregnancy to drugs (including recreational drugs and anti-convulsants), alcohol and hair colourants for neuroblastoma (Lipson and Bale, 1985;Kramer et al, 1987) and for Wilms' tumour (Bunin et al, 1987). It had also been suggested that Hodgkin's disease in children might arise as a rare sequel to infection with a common virus (Gutensohn and Cole, 1981;Gutensohn and Shapiro, 1982) and that children with rhabdomyosarcoma were less likely to be immunized than controls (Grufferman et al, 1982;Hartley et al, 1988).…”

Childhood cancer in the offspring of male sawmill workers occupationally exposed to chlorophenate fungicides.

“…As well antinausea medication, kerosene, pesticides (including the use of pest strips), herbicides and fertilizers have been associated with increased risk (Shu et al 1996, Robison et al 1995, Leiss and Savitz, 1995, Infante-Rivard 1997, Steinbuch 1994, Sarasua and Savitz, 1994, Lowengart et al 1987, Buckley et al 1989, Pershagen et al 1992, Golding et al 1990, Kuijten et al 1990, Kuijten and Bunui 1993, Bunin et al 1994 Davis et al 1992), therapeutic doses of X-rays to the head, such as in the treatment for tinea capitis (Ron et ai. 1988), head and neck trauma to the child (Howe et al 1989), higher birth weight (Kuijten et al 1990, Gold et al 1979), consumption of Nnitroso compounds such as those allegedly found in hot dogs ( Sarasua and Savitz 1994), and being treated with cranial irradiation for leukemia (Chow et al 1996).…”