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Published on: June 9, 2018
Disease burden in offspring is associated with changing paternal demographics in the United States
D R Greenberg1, Y S Khandwala1, Y Lu2
1Department of Urology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
Insights
Advanced paternal age in the US is linked to more childhood cancers and neuropsychiatric conditions. This trend highlights the need for further research into the health impacts of delayed fatherhood.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Health
- Pediatric Oncology
- Neuropsychiatry
Background:
- Average paternal age in the United States has significantly increased over recent decades.
- Children born to older fathers face a higher risk of early-onset cancers and neuropsychiatric disorders.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the population-adjusted number of early-onset cancer and neuropsychiatric disease cases in children attributable to increasing paternal age in the US.
- To analyze the correlation between paternal age and disease incidence in offspring.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) for US paternal age data (1972-2015).
- Extracted population attributable fractions and paternal age-specific incidence rates from peer-reviewed literature.
- Correlated paternal age-specific birth rates with disease incidence rates to determine attributable cases.
Main Results:
- The 2015 US birth cohort shows an estimated increase in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (9.2%), embryonal tumors (13.2%), and early-onset breast cancer (13.0%) compared to the 1972 cohort.
- Significant increases are projected for schizophrenia (10.5%), autism spectrum disorder (6.3%), anorexia nervosa (4.5%), and bipolar disorder (9.2%) in the 2015 birth cohort compared to 1972.
- Specific case increases include 157 ALL, 209 embryonal tumors, 424 breast cancers, 2864 schizophrenia, 2934 ASD, 620 AN, and 252 bipolar disorder cases.
Conclusions:
- Rising paternal age in the US is demonstrably associated with a substantial increase in early-onset cancers and neuropsychiatric diseases in children.
- These findings underscore the public health implications of delayed fatherhood on offspring health outcomes.
Background:
Average paternal age in the United States has increased substantially in the last few decades. Children of advanced age fathers have a higher incidence of early onset cancer and neuropsychiatric disease.
Objectives:
To quantify the number of population adjusted cases of early-onset cancer and neuropsychiatric disease in children attributable to increasing paternal age in the United States.
Methods:
Paternal age in the United States from 1972 to 2015 was collected using the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). Population attributable fraction and paternal age-specific cumulative incidence rates of several cancers and neuropsychiatric disorders were obtained from peer-reviewed publications. Paternal age-specific birth rates were correlated with paternal age-specific cumulative incidence rates to determine the number of attributable cases of disease caused by advancing age of fathers in the United States.
Results:
The 2015 birth cohort in the United States is estimated to expect 9.2% more cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) diagnosed before 16 years of age (157 additional cases), 13.2% more cases of embryonal tumors in children <5 years of age (209 additional cases), and 13.0% more cases of breast cancer in females younger than 40 years old (424 additional cases) compared to the 1972 birth cohort. We can estimate to expect 10.5% more cases of schizophrenia diagnosed before 21 years of age (2864 additional cases), 6.3% more cases of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adolescents <17 years of age (2934 additional cases), 4.5% more cases of anorexia nervosa (AN) in females 8-30 years old (620 additional cases), and 9.2% more cases of bipolar disorder in young patients 16-25 years old (252 additional cases) in the 2015 birth cohort compared to the 1972 birth cohort.
Conclusion:
Increasing paternal age in the United States is associated with a substantial increase in the number of cases of early-onset cancer and neuropsychiatric disease in offspring.
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