Risk of Childhood Cancer for Infants with Birth Defects

Abstract

To attempt to confirm associations found in a companion study in Atlanta, Georgia between Down's syndrome and acute leukemia and between pyloric stenosis and childhood cancer, the authors used the State Health Registry of Iowa to link the records of infants and children with cancer for 1983 to 1989 with the records of infants with birth defects for 1983 to 1988. During the study period, birth defects were diagnosed in 10,891 infants younger than 1 year of age, and cancer was diagnosed in 396 children younger than 8 years of age. The authors compared the observed number of children with a defect who developed cancer with the number expected on the basis of the cancer registry rates. Of the 10,891 children with birth defects, 16 developed cancer (standardized incidence ratio (SIR) = 2.0, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2-3.3). Of 251 children with Down's syndrome (trisomy 21), two developed leukemia (SIR = 32.1, 95% CI 3.9-116.0). None of the infants with cancer had pyloric stenosis (SIR = 0.0, 95% CI 0.0-6.7). The results of this study supported the association found in the Atlanta study between Down's syndrome and leukemia, but did not support the association found there between pyloric stenosis and childhood cancer. This study, however, had a shorter follow-up period and a smaller number of subjects than the Atlanta study.

Cancer Risk in Children and Adolescents with Birth Defects: A Population-Based Cohort Study

“…This is at variance with some prior findings [8]–[10], [14], [15], [48]. The incorporation of clinical record review in our study could explain some of the discrepancies.…”

“…For Down syndrome, prior studies [7]–[10], [12], [13], [17], [51]–[53] reported similar risk patterns, with some variation in the magnitude of the estimates. Children with trisomy 13 or 18 had a different risk profile.…”

Studies of genes involved in craniofacial development and tumorigenesis:FGF3contributes to isolated oral clefts and may interact withPAX9

“…While earlier studies suggest individuals born with clefts and their family members report more often cancer [2][3][4][5][6][7], the results of the present study contradict those findings. This study agrees with at least one previous investigation [38] that also did not find an association between oral clefts and cancer.…”

“…Individuals born with oral clefts have a shorter lifespan and may have a higher incidence of cancer [2][3][4][5][6][7]. Families of individuals born with oral clefts report more often cancer [8][9][10][11] and, conversely, isolated oral clefts were reported more often in families in which one individual was diagnosed with cancer [12,13].…”

Long term follow up study of survival associated with cleft lip and palate at birth

“…The Danish cleft lip and palate register is described elsewhere 7 – 9. We excluded infants with malformations other than cleft lip and palate to eliminate the effect of multiple anomalies on increased mortality.…”