LEUKEMIA AND NON-HODGKINS-LYMPHOMA IN CHILDREN AND YOUNG-ADULTS - AREPRENATAL AND NEONATAL FACTORS IMPORTANT DETERMINANTS OF DISEASE

A medical record-based study of leukaemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma d iagnosed before the age of 30 years was carried out at three hospitals in the south of England. Findings for 177 cases and 354 age- and sex- matched controls are presented here. For documented viral infection in pregnancy, the odds ratio (OR) was 6.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2-29.7] for leukaemia and infinity (95% CI 1.2-infinity) for non-Hod gkin's lymphoma. Mothers of leukaemic cases were more likely to be ana emic, the OR for a pregnancy haemoglobin below 10 g being 3.8 (95% CI 1.3-11.1). An association with birthweight was found for acute myeloid leukaemia, the OR for birthweights > 3500 g being 6.2 (95% CI 1.3-29. 8). Further, the preceding siblings of those diagnosed with any form o f leukaemia were also more likely to weigh > 3500 g at birth (OR 2.2; 95% CI 1.1-4.4). Overall, leukaemic cases appeared to be comparatively robust at birth with respect to other indicators of well-being, the O Rs for jaundice, phototherapy, admission to special care nursery and n eonatal intensive care all being less than 1.0. Further, no relation b etween childhood leukaemia and neonatal administration of intramuscula r vitamin K was noted (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.3-1.4; for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia diagnosed between the ages of 1 and 6 years).