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Maternal diet and risk of astrocytic glioma in children: a report from the Childrens Cancer Group (United States and Canada)

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Abstract

N-nitroso compounds and their precursors, nitrites and nitrates, have been hypothesized as risk factors, and vitamins C and E, which inhibit N-nitroso formation, as protective factors for brain tumors. A case-control study of maternal diet during pregnancy and risk of astrocytoma, the most common childhood brain tumor, was conducted by the Childrens Cancer Group. The study included 155 cases under age six at diagnosis and the same number of matched controls selected by random-digit dialing. A trned was observed for consumption of cured meats, which contain preformed nitrosamines (a class of N-nitroso compounds) and their precursors (adjusted odds ratio [OR] for highest quartile of intake relative to lowest=1.7,P trend=0.10). However, no strong trends were observed for nitrosamine (OR=0.8,P=0.60); nitrite (OR=1.3,P=0.54); nitrate (OR=0.7,P=0.43); vitamin C (OR=0.7,P=0.37); or vitamin E (OR=0.7,P=0.48). Iron supplements were associated with a significant decrease in risk (OR=0.5, 95 percent confidence interval=0.3–0.8). The effect of several dietary factors differed by income level, making interpretation of the results difficult. Future research should investigate the effect of dietary components not assessed in this study, as these may explain the disparate effects by income level. The results of this study provide limited support for the nitrosamine hypothesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, (USA)

    Greta R. Bunin &  Anna T. Meadows

  2. McKinsey & Company, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    René R. Kuijten

  3. Columbus Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, (USA)

    Carl P. Boesel

  4. the University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, (USA)

    Jonathan D. Buckley

Authors
  1. Greta R. Bunin
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  2. René R. Kuijten
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  3. Carl P. Boesel
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  4. Jonathan D. Buckley
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  5. Anna T. Meadows
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Additional information

Address correspondence to the Childrens Cancer Group, PO Box 60012, Arcadia, CA 01066-6012, USA. This research (protocol No. E12) was supported in part by US National Institutes of Health grant CA 29275. Contributing Children Cancer Group Investigators, Institutions, and Grant Numbers are given in the Appendix. Grant support from the Division of Cancer Treatment, National Cancer Institute. The work reported in this paper was undertaken during the tenure of a Yamagiwa-Yoshida Memorial International Cancer Study Grant awarded by the Japan National Committee of the International Union Against Cancer, Geneva, Switzerland and the Olympus Optical Company, Tokyo, Japan and a Research Training Fellowship awarded by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France to Dr Kuijten.

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Bunin, G.R., Kuijten, R.R., Boesel, C.P. et al. Maternal diet and risk of astrocytic glioma in children: a report from the Childrens Cancer Group (United States and Canada). Cancer Causes Control 5, 177–187 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01830264

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01830264

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