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Maternal weight during pregnancy and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in offspring

Liu, Jiaye LU ; Kharazmi, Elham LU ; Liang, Qunfeng LU ; Chen, Yafei LU ; Sundquist, Jan LU ; Sundquist, Kristina LU and Fallah, Mahdi LU (2025) In Leukemia
Abstract

In addition to biological factors, maternal exposures during pregnancy can contribute to leukemogenesis in offspring. We conducted a population-based cohort study in Sweden to investigate the association between risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in offspring and maternal anthropometrics during pregnancy. A total of 2,961,435 live-born singletons during 1983-2018 were followed from birth to ALL diagnosis, end of age 18, or end of 2018. 1388 children were diagnosed with ALL (55.6% boys). We observed an increased risk of ALL among daughters of overweight/obese mothers in early pregnancy [Body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m
2; Standardized incidence ratio (SIR) = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.2-1.6] compared with the risk in daughters of mothers... (More)

In addition to biological factors, maternal exposures during pregnancy can contribute to leukemogenesis in offspring. We conducted a population-based cohort study in Sweden to investigate the association between risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in offspring and maternal anthropometrics during pregnancy. A total of 2,961,435 live-born singletons during 1983-2018 were followed from birth to ALL diagnosis, end of age 18, or end of 2018. 1388 children were diagnosed with ALL (55.6% boys). We observed an increased risk of ALL among daughters of overweight/obese mothers in early pregnancy [Body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m
2; Standardized incidence ratio (SIR) = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.2-1.6] compared with the risk in daughters of mothers with normal BMI. This association was not found in their sons (SIR = 1.0, 95% CI: 0.9-1.1). Similar results were found for the association between ALL and maternal BMI before delivery. We did not find an association between low or high gestational weight gain (GWG) and risk of ALL (both SIRs = 1.0) in male/female offspring. These suggest that maternal overweight/obesity are important risk factors for childhood ALL in daughters, whereas GWG is not associated with risk of ALL. Further research on this mother-daughter association may shed light on a possible sex hormone/chromosome-related etiology of ALL.

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; ; ; ; ; and
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Contribution to journal
publication status
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subject
in
Leukemia
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • scopus:85217217040
  • pmid:39865137
ISSN
1476-5551
DOI
10.1038/s41375-025-02517-6
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
05cfa1fe-a76f-4b04-ab91-498e862a0a2b
date added to LUP
2025-02-03 13:48:50
date last changed
2025-07-08 21:19:07
@article{05cfa1fe-a76f-4b04-ab91-498e862a0a2b,
  abstract     = {{<p>In addition to biological factors, maternal exposures during pregnancy can contribute to leukemogenesis in offspring. We conducted a population-based cohort study in Sweden to investigate the association between risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in offspring and maternal anthropometrics during pregnancy. A total of 2,961,435 live-born singletons during 1983-2018 were followed from birth to ALL diagnosis, end of age 18, or end of 2018. 1388 children were diagnosed with ALL (55.6% boys). We observed an increased risk of ALL among daughters of overweight/obese mothers in early pregnancy [Body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m<br>
 2; Standardized incidence ratio (SIR) = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.2-1.6] compared with the risk in daughters of mothers with normal BMI. This association was not found in their sons (SIR = 1.0, 95% CI: 0.9-1.1). Similar results were found for the association between ALL and maternal BMI before delivery. We did not find an association between low or high gestational weight gain (GWG) and risk of ALL (both SIRs = 1.0) in male/female offspring. These suggest that maternal overweight/obesity are important risk factors for childhood ALL in daughters, whereas GWG is not associated with risk of ALL. Further research on this mother-daughter association may shed light on a possible sex hormone/chromosome-related etiology of ALL.<br>
 </p>}},
  author       = {{Liu, Jiaye and Kharazmi, Elham and Liang, Qunfeng and Chen, Yafei and Sundquist, Jan and Sundquist, Kristina and Fallah, Mahdi}},
  issn         = {{1476-5551}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Leukemia}},
  title        = {{Maternal weight during pregnancy and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in offspring}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41375-025-02517-6}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s41375-025-02517-6}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}