Season of birth and diagnosis of children with leukaemia: an analysis of over 15 000 UK cases occurring from 1953–95

Higgins, Craig; dos‐Santos‐Silva, Isabel; Stiller, Charles; Swerdlow, Anthony

doi:10.1054/bjoc.2000.1575

Cited by 41 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…As it is now clear that childhood ALL is frequently initiated pre-natally in utero, 29,30 it may be speculated that seasonality of diagnosis suggests that if infection does play a role in the aetiology of ALL, it is likely to be a late stage 'promotion' effect rather than an effect occurring in the initiation of the disease. In this respect, we demonstrated that 66% of our patients had been born in the months of onset of leukemia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal variations in the onset of childhood leukemia/lymphoma: April 1996 to March 2000, Shiraz, Iran

Karimi

Yarmohammadi

2003

Hematological Oncology

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Infection has long been suspected as a possible factor in the aetiology of leukemia and lymphoma, one of the most common malignancies in children. Since most viral infections have seasonal variations of onset, if seasonal trends in 1 month of diagnosis of leukemia and lymphoma could be proved, this would be supportive evidence for an infectious aetiology. A total of 367 cases in the Hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, from April 1996 through March 2000, who were diagnosed as having acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML), Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) chronic myeloblastic lymphoma (CML), Hodgkin's disease (HD) or non-Burkitt's type non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NBNHL) were analysed. The month of appearance of the first symptom and the date of diagnosis were recorded. ALL demonstrated statistically significant monthly variation in the date of appearance of the first symptom (p < 0.05; peak in October) and the date of diagnosis (p < 0.05; peak in November). Seasonal variation was demonstrated in the date of the first appearance of symptoms in BL (p < 0.042), and in the date of diagnosis in AML (p < 0.049). There was no statistically significant seasonal variation in the month of diagnosis for other groups. Analysis based on the date of the first symptoms and the date of diagnosis for ALL patients, using summer-winter ratios, also showed a significant winter excess (p < 0.001). Our data provide modest support for an autumn-winter peak in the diagnosis of childhood ALL, underlying mechanisms that account for these patterns are likely to be complex and need more definitive studies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal variations in the onset of childhood leukemia/lymphoma: April 1996 to March 2000, Shiraz, Iran

Karimi

Yarmohammadi

2003

Hematological Oncology

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“…The Danish study of children aged under 4 years diagnosed with ALL found marked seasonality in birth with a peak in April. A February peak was found in Northern England, UK, in a study of children diagnosed with ALL aged 1-6 years [16], and in a study of 15,835 cases of childhood leukaemia born and diagnosed in the UK between 1953-1995 [17].…”

Section: Strengths and Weaknessesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There was evidence of seasonality in date of birth in studies from Denmark [15] and the UK, although there was variability in the time of peak incidence [16,17]. The Danish study of children aged under 4 years diagnosed with ALL found marked seasonality in birth with a peak in April.…”

Section: Strengths and Weaknessesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Variation of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia is Different Between Girls and Boys

Nyári

Kajtár

Bartyik

et al. 2008

Pathol. Oncol. Res.

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The aim of this study was to investigate seasonal trends in the incidence of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) around the times of birth and diagnosis in children aged 0-4 years and also to examine gender specific effects. Children born in South Hungary during 1981-1997 were analysed. Registrations of first malignancies for children, diagnosed under age 5 years before the end of 2002 were obtained from the Hungarian Paediatric Oncology Group providing a representative sample of Hungarian children over a 17 year period of time. Data were available on the corresponding numbers of births for each month of the study period were obtained. Statistical analyses were performed using logistic regression with harmonic components. The study analysed 121 cases of children, aged under 5 years, who were diagnosed with ALL. We found no seasonal effect related to date of diagnosis. However, there was seasonal variability for ALL related to date of birth. Maximal rates were seen in children born in February and August in the simple harmonic regression model for all children diagnosed with ALL. Analysis by gender found evidence of seasonality related to month of birth with peaks in February and August in boys, but different seasonal effects were seen for girls (peak in November, nadir in May). Our study provides some evidence that male specific immune responses to infections around the time of birth could explain the male predominance in the incidence of ALL.

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“…Many recent studies have focused on acute lymphocytic leukaemia and/or leukaemia in childhood but the results remain inconsistent (Harris et al, 1987;Badrinath et al, 1997;Westerbeek et al, 1998;Ross et al, 1999;Timonen, 1999;Higgins et al, 2001).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of seasonality in the diagnosis of monocytic leukaemia

Eatough¹

2002

Br J Cancer

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Season of birth and diagnosis of children with leukaemia: an analysis of over 15 000 UK cases occurring from 1953–95

Cited by 41 publications

References 34 publications

Seasonal variations in the onset of childhood leukemia/lymphoma: April 1996 to March 2000, Shiraz, Iran

Seasonal variations in the onset of childhood leukemia/lymphoma: April 1996 to March 2000, Shiraz, Iran

Seasonal Variation of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia is Different Between Girls and Boys

Evidence of seasonality in the diagnosis of monocytic leukaemia

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