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Periconceptional vitamin useand leukemia risk in children with Down syndrome: a Children's Oncology Group study

Julie A Ross1, Cindy K Blair, Andrew F Olshan

  • 1Division of Pediatric Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA. ross@epi.umn.edu

Cancer
|June 14, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Periconceptional vitamin supplementation may reduce the risk of leukemia in children with Down syndrome (DS). This protective effect was observed for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) but not acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Oncology
  • Nutritional Epidemiology
  • Genetics and Cancer

Background:

  • Children with Down syndrome (DS) have a significantly higher risk of leukemia.
  • Periconceptional vitamin supplementation is known to reduce neural tube defects and may lower the risk of certain childhood cancers.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether periconceptional vitamin supplementation reduces leukemia risk in children with Down syndrome.

Main Methods:

  • A case-control study involving 158 children with DS and acute leukemia and 173 children with DS alone.
  • Mothers of cases and controls were interviewed about periconceptional vitamin supplement use.

Main Results:

  • Periconceptional vitamin supplementation was associated with a reduced risk of leukemia in children with DS (OR=0.63).
  • The reduced risk was significant for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (OR=0.51) but not for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (OR=0.92).
  • Supplementation after pregnancy knowledge increased leukemia risk (OR=1.61).

Conclusions:

  • Periconceptional vitamin use may offer protection against certain childhood cancers, including leukemia in children with DS.
  • These findings support existing evidence on the protective role of periconceptional vitamins in cancer development.
Abstract

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