RELATION BETWEEN MATERNAL DIET AND SUBSEQUENT PRIMITIVE NEUROECTODERMAL BRAIN-TUMORS IN YOUNG-CHILDREN

Background. It has been hypothesized that a high dietary intake of nit rosamines and their precursors, nitrites and nitrates, is a risk facto r for brain tumors. Vitamins C and E inhibit the formation of nitrosam ines and thus may be protective. Methods. We conducted a case-control study of maternal diet and the risk of primitive neuroectodermal tumor s of the brain in children. The case patients were under the age of si x years at diagnosis in 1986 to 1989. The controls were selected by ra ndom-digit telephone dialing and were matched for age and race to 166 case patients. Telephone interviews with the mothers included question s on the frequency of consumption of alcohol, vitamin and mineral supp lements, and 53 foods during pregnancy. Results. Significant protectiv e trends were observed for vegetables (odds ratio for the highest quar tile group for intake relative to the lowest, 0.37; P for trend = 0.00 5), fruits and fruit juices (odds ratio, 0.28; P = 0.003), vitamin A ( odds ratio, 0.59; P = 0.03), vitamin C (odds ratio, 0.42; P = 0.009), nitrate (odds ratio, 0.44; P = 0.002), and folate (odds ratio, 0.38; P = 0.005). A nonsignificant trend of increasing risk was observed for nitrosamine (odds ratio, 1.65; P = 0.15). The use of iron (odds ratio, 0.43; P = 0.004), calcium (odds ratio, 0.42; P = 0.05), and vitamin C (odds ratio, 0.35; P = 0.04) supplements at any time during the pregn ancy and the use of multivitamins during the first six weeks (odds rat io, 0.56; P = 0.02) were associated with decreased risk. In multivaria te analyses, folate, early multivitamin use, and iron supplements gene rally remained protective. Conclusions. These results do not support t he hypothesis that nitrosamines have a role in the development of prim itive neuroectodermal tumors in young children, but they do suggest th at certain other aspects of maternal diet can influence the risk.