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Maternal dietary risk factors in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (United States)
Christopher D Jensen1, Gladys Block, Patricia Buffler
1School of Public Health, 419 Warren Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-7360, USA. cjensen@berkeley.edu
Insights
Maternal diet during pregnancy may influence childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) risk. Consuming vegetables, fruits, and protein sources was linked to lower ALL incidence, with carotenoids and glutathione showing potential protective effects.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Nutritional Epidemiology
- Cancer Etiology
Background:
- Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a leading cause of childhood cancer mortality.
- Emerging evidence suggests in utero origins for ALL, highlighting maternal factors.
- Maternal diet is a potential modifiable risk factor for childhood leukemia.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between maternal dietary patterns and the risk of childhood ALL.
- To identify specific food groups and nutrients in maternal diet that may influence ALL development.
Main Methods:
- A population-based case-control study (Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study) was conducted.
- 138 ALL cases and 138 matched controls were included.
- Maternal dietary intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire for the 12 months preceding pregnancy.
Main Results:
- Inverse associations were observed for maternal consumption of vegetables (OR=0.53), protein sources (OR=0.40), and fruits (OR=0.71).
- Lower ALL risk was linked to higher intake of provitamin A carotenoids (OR=0.65) and glutathione (OR=0.42).
- Statistical significance was noted for vegetables and protein sources, with trends for fruits, carotenoids, and glutathione.
Conclusions:
- Maternal dietary intake of vegetables, fruits, and protein sources may reduce the risk of childhood ALL.
- Specific nutrients, including carotenoids and glutathione, appear to play a role in the protective effect.
- These findings underscore the importance of maternal nutrition in the prevention of childhood leukemia.
Objective:
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood cancer, and the second most common cause of mortality in children aged 1-14 years. Recent research has established that the disease can originate in utero, and thus maternal diet may be an important risk factor for ALL.
Methods:
The Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study is a population-based case-control study of risk factors for childhood leukemia, including maternal diet. Cases (n = 138) and controls (n = 138) were matched on sex, date of birth, mother's race, Hispanicity, and county of residence at birth. Maternal dietary intake in the 12 months prior to pregnancy was obtained by a 76-item food frequency questionnaire.
Results:
Consumption of the vegetables (OR = 0.53; 95% CI, 0.33-0.85; p = 0.008), protein sources (OR = 0.40; 95% CI, 0.18-0.90, p = 0.03), and fruits (OR = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.49-1.04; p = 0.08) food groups were inversely associated with ALL. Among nutrients, consumption of provitamin A carotenoids (OR = 0.65, 95% CI, 0.42-1.01; p = 0.05), and the antioxidant glutathione (OR = 0.42; 95% CI, 0.16-1.10; p = 0.08) were inversely associated with ALL.
Conclusion:
Maternal dietary factors, specifically the consumption of vegetables, fruits, protein sources and related nutrients, may play a role in the etiology of ALL. Dietary carotenoids and glutathione appear to be important contributors to this effect.
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