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Updated: May 20, 2026

Reconstruct Human Retinoblastoma In Vitro
Published on: October 11, 2022
Perinatal characteristics and retinoblastoma
Julia E Heck1, Christina A Lombardi, Travis J Meyers
1Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Box 951772, 650 Charles E. Young Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA. jeheck@ucla.edu
Insights
This study found that older paternal age and twin births are linked to bilateral retinoblastoma. Maternal STDs also increased risk, while lower maternal education was associated with unilateral cases.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Epidemiology
- Genetics
Background:
- The exact causes of retinoblastoma, a rare childhood eye cancer, are not fully understood.
- Research suggests potential links between perinatal factors and cancer development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the associations between various perinatal factors and the risk of developing retinoblastoma in children.
- To analyze data from California children diagnosed with retinoblastoma between 1988 and 2007.
Main Methods:
- A case-control study involving 609 retinoblastoma cases and 209,051 controls.
- Data primarily sourced from birth certificates.
- Multivariable logistic regression analysis to assess risk factors.
Main Results:
- Bilateral retinoblastoma showed associations with increased paternal age and twin births.
- Unilateral retinoblastoma risk was higher in children of US-born Hispanic mothers and lower for those with less maternal education.
- Maternal sexually transmitted infection (STD) during pregnancy was linked to bilateral retinoblastoma.
Conclusions:
- Findings support previous research on parental age and retinoblastoma.
- The study highlights potential associations between perinatal factors like STDs and parental demographics with retinoblastoma risk.
Purpose:
The etiology of retinoblastoma remains poorly understood. In the present study, we examined associations between perinatal factors and retinoblastoma risk in California children.
Methods:
We identified 609 retinoblastoma cases (420 unilateral, 187 bilateral, and 2 with laterality unknown) from California Cancer Registry records of diagnoses 1988-2007 among children < 6 years of age. We randomly selected 209,051 controls from California birth rolls. The source of most study data was birth certificates. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine associations between retinoblastoma and perinatal characteristics.
Results:
Bilateral retinoblastoma was associated with greater paternal age [for fathers over 35, crude odds ratio (OR) = 1.73, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.20, 2.47] and with twin births (OR = 1.93, 95 % CI 0.99, 3.79). Among unilateral cases, we observed an increased risk among children of US-born Hispanic mothers (OR = 1.34, 95 % CI 1.01, 1.77) while a decreased risk was observed for infants born to mothers with less than 9 years of education (OR = 0.70, 95 % CI 0.49, 1.00), a group that consisted primarily of mothers born in Mexico. We observed that maternal infection in pregnancy with any STD (OR = 3.59, 95 % CI 1.58, 8.15) was associated with bilateral retinoblastoma.
Conclusions:
This study supports the findings of previous investigations reporting associations between parental age, HPV infection, and retinoblastoma.
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