Potential risk factors for brain tumors in children. An analysis of 200 cases

Risk factors from brain tumors in children and adolescents: a case-control study in Belgrade, Serbia

The objective of the present study was to test the different hypotheses about factors related to the occurrence of brain tumors in children and adolescents. The case-control study of brain tumors was conducted in Belgrade (Serbia) from 1998 through 2000. The study group consisted of 60 newly diagnosed brain tumor patients and the same number of hospital controls. In the analysis conditional univariate and multivariate logistic regression were applied. According to the final model of multivariate analysis the following factors were significantly related to brain tumors: schooling of father <14 years (OR = 11.05, 95% CI 2.41-50.63, P = 0.002), mothers - housewives or workers versus clerks (OR = 2.62, 95% CI 1.06-6.57, P = 0.036), number of brothers and sisters greater than one (OR = 3.02, 95% CI 1.50-7.22, P = 0.001), and more frequent presence of malignant diseases, including brain tumors, in family history (OR = 3.54, 95% CI 1.30-9.60, P = 0.001). This case-control study was made to investigate different factors of possible importance for brain tumors in children and adolescents. Lower family social status, and more frequent occurrence of malignant tumors amongst relatives seem to be the factors that contribute the most to the higher risk of brain tumors.

Family history of cancer and seizures in young children with brain tumors: a report from the Childrens Cancer Group (United States and Canada)

The occurrence of cancer and neurological disorders in first- and second-degree relatives of children in the United States and Canada diagnosed with brain tumor before age six was investigated. A pair-matched case-control study with 155 astrocytoma and 166 primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) cases was performed. Cases were identified through the Childrens Cancer Group. Controls were selected by random-digit dialing and matched to cases on age, race, and telephone area code and exchange. Childhood cancers were more common in PNET relatives compared with the general population (standardized incidence ratio [SIR] = 2.5, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] 1.1-4.8, P = 0.02) and with control relatives (odds ratio [OR] = 3.0, CI = 0.5-30, P = 0.29). For astrocytoma, nonsignificant excesses of brain tumor, leukemia/lymphoma, and childhood cancer occurred among case relatives compared with control relatives, but not compared with the general population. Astrocytoma cases were significantly more likely than controls to have a relative with seizures (OR = 2.5, CI = 1.2-4.9, P = 0.009), especially childhood seizures (OR = 3.4, CI = 1.2-12, P = 0.02), epilepsy (OR = 3.0, CI = 0.9-13, P = 0.08), and febrile convulsions (OR = 4.5, CI = 0.9-43, P = 0.07). A family history of stroke was not a risk factor for either type of brain tumor. These results suggest that some childhood brain tumors may result from a genetic susceptibility and that some risk factors may affect childhood astrocytoma and PNET differently.