Malignant neoplasms of the brain during childhood: the role of prenatal and neonatal factors (United Kingdom)

Objectives: To evaluate whether factors in pregnancy and around birth influ ence the risk of childhood malignant neoplasms of the brain or other parts of the nervous system. Methods: The distribution of certain characteristics of pregnancy and birth among 83 cases of malignant neoplasms of the brain and other parts of the nervous system (diagnosed between 0 and 14 years of age) and 166 controls ( individually matched on date of birth, sex, and hospital of birth) were com pared. Odds ratios (OR), 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) and two-sided p- values were calculated using conditional logistic regression for matched se ts. Results: Children whose mothers had documented evidence of a clinically dia gnosed viral infection during pregnancy had an approximately 11-fold increa se in risk of developing a malignant neoplasm of the brain or other part of the nervous system (OR = 10.6, 95% CI = 1.1-503.2). In addition, non-stati stically significant increased risks were observed among children who had a non-cephalic presentation (OR = 3.3, 95% CI = 0.8-13.9) or a low 1-minute apgar score (OR = 2.7, 95% CI = 1.0-7.4). No other aspects of the index pre gnancy, delivery, or maternal characteristics were associated with an incre ased risk of childhood brain tumors. Conclusions: The results reported here provide limited evidence for the rol e of prenatal and neonatal factors in the etiology of childhood malignant n eoplasms of the brain. The finding for maternal viral infection during preg nancy warrants further investigation.