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Maternal Use of Recreational Drugs and Neuroblastoma in Offspring: A Report from the Children’s Oncology Group (United States)

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Abstract

Objective

To evaluate whether maternal use of recreational drugs around conception and pregnancy influences the risk of childhood neuroblastoma.

Methods

Self-reported use of recreational drugs from one month prior to pregnancy until diagnosis was assessed among mothers of 538 children with neuroblastoma (diagnosed 1992–1994 and identified through the Children’s Cancer Group and Pediatric Oncology Group) and 504 age-matched controls (identified by random-digit dialing). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for age at diagnosis and household income.

Results

Maternal use of any illicit or recreational drug around pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of neuroblastoma in offspring (OR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.13, 3.00), particularly use of marijuana in the first trimester of pregnancy (OR = 4.75, 95% CI: 1.55, 16.48). Marijuana use in the month before pregnancy did not increase risk. The effect of gestational marijuana exposure was strongest in subjects diagnosed before age one. Evaluation of recreational drugs other than marijuana was limited by infrequent use, and analyses of drug use by fathers were not carried out due to missing data.

Conclusions

Maternal recreational drug use and marijuana use during pregnancy were associated with increased risk of neuroblastoma in offspring. Further examination of these drugs and the risk of childhood cancer is warranted.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported in part by Grant CA57004 from the National Cancer Institute, a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (P30ES10126), and the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. The authors thank Joanna Smith for programming help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #7435, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7435, USA

    Elizabeth C. Bluhm, Julie Daniels & Andrew F. Olshan

  2. Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 6120 Executive Boulevard MSC 7238, Rockville, MD, 20892-7238, USA

    Elizabeth C. Bluhm

  3. Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Brad H. Pollock

  4. Radiation Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, 6120 Executive Boulevard MSC, 7238, Rockville, MD, 20892-7238, USA

    Elizabeth C. Bluhm

Authors
  1. Elizabeth C. Bluhm
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  2. Julie Daniels
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  3. Brad H. Pollock
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  4. Andrew F. Olshan
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Correspondence to Elizabeth C. Bluhm.

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Bluhm, E.C., Daniels, J., Pollock, B.H. et al. Maternal Use of Recreational Drugs and Neuroblastoma in Offspring: A Report from the Children’s Oncology Group (United States). Cancer Causes Control 17, 663–669 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-005-0580-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-005-0580-3

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