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Maternal cancer and congenital anomalies in children ± a Danish nationwide cohort study

Momen, Natalie C. ; Ernst, Andreas ; Arendt, Linn Håkonsen ; Olsen, Jørn ; Li, Jiong ; Gissler, Mika ; Rasmussen, Finn LU and Ramlau-Hansen, Cecilia Høst (2017) In PLoS ONE 12(3).
Abstract

Several studies on pregnancy-Associated cancers have suggested an association with congenital anomalies in offspring. Previous studies have included maternal cancers diagnosed up to 2 years after pregnancy; however, long latency periods of some cancers mean that cancers diagnosed many years postpartum might have been present during pregnancy in a preclinical state. This paper considers the association between maternal cancers diagnosed from 2 years prior to pregnancy until the mother reaches 50 years of age, and congenital anomalies, as diagnosed at birth or within the first year of life. The current population-based study looks at associations of cancers in mothers with congenital anomalies in their children. Children were followed up... (More)

Several studies on pregnancy-Associated cancers have suggested an association with congenital anomalies in offspring. Previous studies have included maternal cancers diagnosed up to 2 years after pregnancy; however, long latency periods of some cancers mean that cancers diagnosed many years postpartum might have been present during pregnancy in a preclinical state. This paper considers the association between maternal cancers diagnosed from 2 years prior to pregnancy until the mother reaches 50 years of age, and congenital anomalies, as diagnosed at birth or within the first year of life. The current population-based study looks at associations of cancers in mothers with congenital anomalies in their children. Children were followed up from birth to diagnosis of a congenital anomaly, death, emigration or end of follow-up (whichever occurred first). A total of 56,016 children (2.6%) were considered exposed to a maternal cancer of any type; and they had a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.04 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00, 1.09) compared with unexposed children. The greatest HR was seen among children whose mothers had been diagnosed with cancers before or during pregnancy (HR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.75). Similar results were seen when paternal cancers were used as a negative control'. Statistically significant associations were seen for some specific congenital anomalies of organ systems (congenital anomalies of the musculoskeletal system [HR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.25]) and for some specific types of maternal cancer (leukaemia [HR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.61], The results of the main analyses suggest a small increase in risk of congenital anomalies in offspring of mothers diagnosed with cancer from 2 years before pregnancy, until the mother reaches 50 years of age; with the greatest increase seen for exposure in the pre-pregnancy and pregnancy period. These results may reflect shared causes for some cancers and some congenital anomalies. The similar results seen for paternal cancers indicate that the cause may be genetic or related to the families' social and environmental conditions.

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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
PLoS ONE
volume
12
issue
3
article number
e0173355
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:28264065
  • wos:000396054300055
  • scopus:85014671246
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0173355
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
9fc74683-d7df-4856-b800-4579d9af8e5f
date added to LUP
2017-04-11 16:06:47
date last changed
2024-06-09 14:32:57
@article{9fc74683-d7df-4856-b800-4579d9af8e5f,
  abstract     = {{<p>Several studies on pregnancy-Associated cancers have suggested an association with congenital anomalies in offspring. Previous studies have included maternal cancers diagnosed up to 2 years after pregnancy; however, long latency periods of some cancers mean that cancers diagnosed many years postpartum might have been present during pregnancy in a preclinical state. This paper considers the association between maternal cancers diagnosed from 2 years prior to pregnancy until the mother reaches 50 years of age, and congenital anomalies, as diagnosed at birth or within the first year of life. The current population-based study looks at associations of cancers in mothers with congenital anomalies in their children. Children were followed up from birth to diagnosis of a congenital anomaly, death, emigration or end of follow-up (whichever occurred first). A total of 56,016 children (2.6%) were considered exposed to a maternal cancer of any type; and they had a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.04 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00, 1.09) compared with unexposed children. The greatest HR was seen among children whose mothers had been diagnosed with cancers before or during pregnancy (HR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.75). Similar results were seen when paternal cancers were used as a negative control'. Statistically significant associations were seen for some specific congenital anomalies of organ systems (congenital anomalies of the musculoskeletal system [HR: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.25]) and for some specific types of maternal cancer (leukaemia [HR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.61], The results of the main analyses suggest a small increase in risk of congenital anomalies in offspring of mothers diagnosed with cancer from 2 years before pregnancy, until the mother reaches 50 years of age; with the greatest increase seen for exposure in the pre-pregnancy and pregnancy period. These results may reflect shared causes for some cancers and some congenital anomalies. The similar results seen for paternal cancers indicate that the cause may be genetic or related to the families' social and environmental conditions.</p>}},
  author       = {{Momen, Natalie C. and Ernst, Andreas and Arendt, Linn Håkonsen and Olsen, Jørn and Li, Jiong and Gissler, Mika and Rasmussen, Finn and Ramlau-Hansen, Cecilia Høst}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLoS ONE}},
  title        = {{Maternal cancer and congenital anomalies in children ± a Danish nationwide cohort study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0173355}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0173355}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}