Birth weight may be associated with the risk of certain pediatric cancers, according to a study published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Researchers found associations between high birth weight (being large for gestational age) and an increased risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), Burkitt lymphoma, renal tumors, and germ cell tumors.
The team also found an association between low birth weight (being small for gestational age) and an increased risk of hepatic tumors.
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For this study, the researchers looked at data for 6569 pediatric cancer patients from the Texas Cancer Registry and 33,317 control individuals selected from birth certificate records. Most pediatric cancer diagnoses (73%) occurred before the age of 5 years.
Low Birth Weight
In adjusted analyses, low birth weight was associated with a higher risk of hepatic tumors (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.76; 95% CI, 1.13-2.74; P =.01), including hepatoblastoma (aOR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.08-2.85; P =.02).
Low birth weight was associated with a lower risk of ALL (aOR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.71-0.99; P =.04), but there were no significant associations for acute myeloid leukemia or chronic myeloproliferative diseases.
Low birth weight was associated with a lower risk of Hodgkin lymphoma (aOR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.19-0.87; P =.02) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.30-0.91; P =.02). There was no significant association for Burkitt lymphoma.
Low birth weight was associated with a lower risk of renal tumors (aOR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.44-0.92; P =.02) and soft tissue sarcomas (aOR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.43-0.97; P =.04) but not rhabdomyosarcoma.
Low birth weight was associated with a lower risk of germ cell tumors (aOR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.31- 0.93; P =.03), including malignant gonadal germ cell tumors (aOR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.18-0.96; P =.04).
There were no significant associations for other germ cell tumors, central nervous system tumors, neuroblastoma, retinoblastoma, or other epithelial tumors.
High Birth Weight
In adjusted analyses, high birth weight was associated with a higher risk of leukemia overall (aOR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.13-1.45; P =.00013) and ALL (aOR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.19-1.57; P =.000011) but not acute myeloid leukemia or chronic myeloproliferative diseases.
High birth weight was associated with a higher risk of Burkitt lymphoma (aOR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.05-3.45; P =.03) but no other lymphomas.
High birth weight was also associated with a higher risk of renal tumors (aOR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.29-2.13; P =.000067).
High birth weight was associated with a higher risk of germ cell tumors overall (aOR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.08-2.23; P =.02) and malignant extracranial and extragonadal germ cell tumors (aOR, 2.48; 95% CI, 1.39-4.43; P =.002) but no other germ cell tumors.
There were no significant associations for any central nervous system tumors, neuroblastoma, retinoblastoma, hepatic tumors, bone tumors, soft tissue sarcomas, or other epithelial tumors.
The researchers also noted differences in associations based on maternal race/ethnicity. For instance, low birth weight was associated with a significantly higher risk of neuroblastoma in children with non-Hispanic Black mothers but not in children with Hispanic or non-Hispanic White mothers.
“Our data suggest that fetal growth is associated with risk of several childhood cancers and that sociocultural and environmental factors may modify these complex relationships,” the researchers concluded.
Reference
Hoang TT, Schraw JM, Peckham-Gregory EC, Scheurer ME, and Lupo PJ. Fetal growth and pediatric cancer: A pan-cancer analysis in 7000 cases and 37 000 controls. Int J Cancer. Published online August 9, 2023. doi:10.1002/ijc.34683
