Allergic disorders and the risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (United States)

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that childhood acute lymphoblastic leuke mia (ALL) is associated with allergic disorders. Methods: We compared the histories of selected allergic disorders (asthma, hay fever, food or drug allergies, eczema, and hives) of 1842 cases of ALL with those of 1986 individually matched controls. The histories of the alle rgic disorders among siblings of cases and controls were also compared. Results: The combined history of any one or more of the five allergic disor ders evaluated was associated with a significant reduced risk of ALL (adjus ted OR = 0.7, 95% CI 0.6-0.8), as were hhistories of four specific allergic disorders (asthma, hay fever, food or drug allergies, and eczema). The com bined history of any one or more of the five allergic disorders among any o f the siblings of the study subjects also revealed a significantly inverse association (adjusted OR = 0.9, 95% CI 0.8-1.0). Conclusion: The results from this study, in agreement with most previous st udies on adult cancer, suggest that allergic disorders may be associated wi th a reduced risk of childhood ALL.