scholarly journals Environmental Risk Factors for Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: An Umbrella Review

Cancers ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 382
Author(s):  
Felix M. Onyije ◽  
Ann Olsson ◽  
Dan Baaken ◽  
Friederike Erdmann ◽  
Martin Stanulla ◽  
...  

Leukemia is the most common type of cancer among children and adolescents worldwide. The aim of this umbrella review was (1) to provide a synthesis of the environmental risk factors for the onset of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) by exposure window, (2) evaluate their strength of evidence and magnitude of risk, and as an example (3) estimate the prevalence in the German population, which determines the relevance at the population level. Relevant systematic reviews and pooled analyses were identified and retrieved through PubMed, Web of Science databases and lists of references. Only two risk factors (low doses of ionizing radiation in early childhood and general pesticide exposure during maternal preconception/pregnancy) were convincingly associated with childhood ALL. Other risk factors including extremely low frequency electromagnetic field (ELF-MF), living in proximity to nuclear facilities, petroleum, benzene, solvent, and domestic paint exposure during early childhood, all showed some level of evidence of association. Maternal consumption of coffee (high consumption/>2 cups/day) and cola (high consumption) during pregnancy, paternal smoking during the pregnancy of the index child, maternal intake of fertility treatment, high birth weight (≥4000 g) and caesarean delivery were also found to have some level of evidence of association. Maternal folic acid and vitamins intake, breastfeeding (≥6 months) and day-care attendance, were inversely associated with childhood ALL with some evidence. The results of this umbrella review should be interpreted with caution; as the evidence stems almost exclusively from case-control studies, where selection and recall bias are potential concerns, and whether the empirically observed association reflect causal relationships remains an open question. Hence, improved exposure assessment methods including accurate and reliable measurement, probing questions and better interview techniques are required to establish causative risk factors of childhood leukemia, which is needed for the ultimate goal of primary prevention.

Blood ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 89 (11) ◽  
pp. 4161-4166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ursula R. Kees ◽  
Paul R. Burton ◽  
Changlong Lü ◽  
David L. Baker

Abstract The p16 gene (MTS1, CDKN2, p16INK4A, CDKI) encoding an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (cdk4) has been found to be deleted in various types of tumors, including leukemia, and is thought to code for a tumor suppressor gene. Our preliminary findings on eight pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) suggested that the survival of patients carrying a homozygous p16 gene deletion was significantly inferior to that of those without a deletion. The present study on 48 patients tested the hypothesis that the clinical outcome for pediatric ALL patients is correlated with the presence or absence of the p16 gene. Overall, nine of 48 children (18.3%) carried a homozygous p16 deletion. Such deletions were significantly more common (P = .003) among T-ALL patients (five of eight, 62.5%) than among precursor-B-ALL patients (four of 40, 10.0%). Of nine patients exhibiting p16 deletions, eight (88.9%) were classified as high-risk patients by the recognized prognostic factors of age, white blood cell count, and T-cell phenotype. The 4-year event-free survival in the study population as a whole was 72.7%. Without adjustment for other risk factors (univariate model), the presence of a homozygous p16 deletion was associated with a markedly increased probability of both relapse (P = .0003) and death (P = .002). These findings raise the question of whether the p16 deletion itself confers an increased risk of relapse after adjusting for the known risk factors. In this analysis, the estimated risk multiplier factor for relapse in patients carrying the p16 deletion was 14.0 (P = .0004) and for the risk of death 15.6 (P = .0008). We therefore conclude that the presence of a homozygous p16 deletion may well be an important risk factor for both relapse and death in childhood ALL, and that its prognostic effect is not a consequence of confounding by other factors already known to influence outcome in this disease.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janine-Alison Schmidt ◽  
Sabine Hornhardt ◽  
Friederike Erdmann ◽  
Isidro Sánchez-García ◽  
Ute Fischer ◽  
...  

Childhood leukemia (CL) is undoubtedly caused by a multifactorial process with genetic as well as environmental factors playing a role. But in spite of several efforts in a variety of scientific fields, the causes of the disease and the interplay of possible risk factors are still poorly understood. To push forward the research on the causes of CL, the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection has been organizing recurring international workshops since 2008 every two to three years. In November 2019 the 6th International Workshop on the Causes of CL was held in Freising and brought together experts from diverse disciplines. The workshop was divided into two main parts focusing on genetic and environmental risk factors, respectively. Two additional special sessions addressed the influence of natural background radiation on the risk of CL and the progress in the development of mouse models used for experimental studies on acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common form of leukemia worldwide. The workshop presentations highlighted the role of infections as environmental risk factor for CL, specifically for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Major support comes from two mouse models, the Pax5+/− and Sca1-ETV6-RUNX1 mouse model, one of the major achievements made in the last years. Mice of both predisposed models only develop leukemia when exposed to common infections. These results emphasize the impact of gene-environment-interactions on the development of CL and warrant further investigation of such interactions — especially because genetic predisposition is detected with increasing frequency in CL. This article summarizes the workshop presentations and discusses the results in the context of the international literature.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 406-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanesa Bellou ◽  
Lazaros Belbasis ◽  
Ioanna Tzoulaki ◽  
Lefkos T. Middleton ◽  
John P.A. Ioannidis ◽  
...  

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 4068
Author(s):  
Shawn H. R. Lee ◽  
Zhenhua Li ◽  
Si Ting Tai ◽  
Bernice L. Z. Oh ◽  
Allen E. J. Yeoh

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer among children. This aggressive cancer comprises multiple molecular subtypes, each harboring a distinct constellation of somatic, and to a lesser extent, inherited genetic alterations. With recent advances in genomic analyses such as next-generation sequencing techniques, we can now clearly identify >20 different genetic subtypes in ALL. Clinically, identifying these genetic subtypes will better refine risk stratification and determine the optimal intensity of therapy for each patient. Underpinning each genetic subtype are unique clinical and therapeutic characteristics, such as age and presenting white blood cell (WBC) count. More importantly, within each genetic subtype, there is much less variability in treatment response and survival outcomes compared with current risk factors such as National Cancer Institute (NCI) criteria. We review how this new taxonomy of genetic subtypes in childhood ALL interacts with clinical risk factors used widely, i.e., age, presenting WBC, IKZF1del, treatment response, and outcomes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Hein ◽  
Arndt Borkhardt ◽  
Ute Fischer

AbstractPediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is defined by recurrent chromosomal aberrations including hyperdiploidy and chromosomal translocations. Many of these aberrations originate in utero and the cells transform in early childhood through acquired secondary mutations. In this review, we will discuss the most common prenatal lesions that can lead to childhood ALL, with a special emphasis on the most common translocation in childhood ALL, t(12;21), which results in the ETV6-RUNX1 gene fusion. The ETV6-RUNX1 fusion arises prenatally and at a 500-fold higher frequency than the corresponding ALL. Even though the findings regarding the frequency of ETV6-RUNX1 were originally challenged, newer studies have confirmed the higher frequency. The prenatal origin has also been proven for other gene fusions, including KMT2A, the translocations t(1;19) and t(9;22) leading to TCF3-PBX1 and BCR-ABL1, respectively, as well as high hyperdiploidy. For most of these aberrations, there is evidence for more frequent occurrence than the corresponding leukemia incidences. We will briefly discuss what is known about the cells of origin, the mechanisms of leukemic transformation through lack of immunosurveillance, and why only a part of the carriers develops ALL.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanesa Bellou ◽  
Lazaros Belbasis ◽  
Ioanna Tzoulaki ◽  
Evangelos Evangelou ◽  
John P.A. Ioannidis

Blood ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 100 (10) ◽  
pp. 3757-3760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjeld Schmiegelow ◽  
Peter Garred ◽  
Birgitte Lausen ◽  
Bente Andreassen ◽  
Bodil Laub Petersen ◽  
...  

Epidemiological data indicate that acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) could be induced by interactions between the immune system and early childhood infections. Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) plays a critical role in the immune response in early childhood before specific immune protection develops. We investigated whether there may be an association between childhood ALL and low-producing MBLgenotypes. Serum MBL levels depend on normal (A)or defective (O) alleles, and on normal (Y) or reduced (X) promoter activities. For this study, 137 noninfants with ALL and 250 controls were classified into 3 MBL genotype groups according to their influence on the serum level of functional MBL: group I, YA/YA andYA/XA (higher levels); group II, XA/XA andYA/O (intermediate levels); and group III, MBLinsufficiency with XA/O or O/O(MBL-deficient) genotypes. Compared with controls, cases more often had low-level genotypes (I/II/III: 63 [46%]/44 [32%]/30 [22%] vs 145 [58%]/65 [26%]/40 [16%];P = .02) and MBL deficiency (8.8% vs 2.8%;P = .009). Thus, the ALL odds ratio forMBL-deficient versus nondeficient individuals was 3.3 (95% CI, 1.3-8.7), whereas the ALL odds ratio for group I versus group II/III genotypes was 0.62 (95% CI, 0.41-0.94). MBL group III patients were significantly younger at diagnosis than patients in group I/II (median, 3.9 vs 5.2 years; P = .04). The study shows that the presence of low-level MBL genotypes is associated with an increased risk of childhood ALL, particularly with early age at onset.


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