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Perinatal Famine Exposure and Young-Onset Cancer-Lessons from China Health and Nutrition Survey

Affiliations
  • 1College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5042, Australia.
  • 2School of Public Health, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200031, China.
  • 3Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.
  • 4Division of Surgery and Perioperative Medicine, Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park, Adelaide, SA 5042, Australia.

Published on:

July 27, 2024

Abstract

Perinatal exposure to malnutrition has been hypothesised to influence the development of young-onset cancer (≤50 years of age). This study aimed to determine if perinatal malnutrition in individuals exposed to the Great Famine of China increased their risk of developing young-onset cancer compared to other individuals born prior to the famine. This cross-sectional study involved 7272 participants from the China Health and Nutrition Survey who were classified into four groups based on birth year: participants born between 1953 and 1955 (before the famine) were designated as the pre-famine group (unexposed); the remainder formed perinatal exposure groups comprised of those exposed during the famine (1959-1961), those exposed in the early post-famine period (1962-1964), and those exposed in the late post-famine period (1965-1967). Multivariable adjusted log-binomial regression models were used to calculate the RR and 95% CI of young-onset cancer (including genitourinary cancer) across four groups. Perinatal exposure to early post-famine (RR 2.08; 95%CI 1.04, 4.34; = 0.043) and the female sex (RR 15.6, 95%CI 4.54, 60.3; < 0.001) were noted to have a significantly increased risk of young-onset cancer. In addition, the early (RR 13.8; 95%CI 2.68, 253; = 0.012) and late post-famine (RR 12.3; 95%CI 2.16, 231; = 0.020) cohorts demonstrated a significantly increased risk of young-onset genitourinary cancer. The latter was accompanied by an increased risk of hypertension (RR 3.30; 95%CI 1.28, 7.87; = 0.009). Perinatal exposure to famine, especially in females, was associated with a higher risk of young-onset cancer. This was particularly evident for young-onset genitourinary cancers. These findings highlight the potential long-term impact of perinatal malnutrition on young-onset carcinogenesis.

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