Abstract
Acute leukemia is the most common pediatric malignancy. Some studies suggest early-life exposures to air pollution increase risk of childhood leukemia. Therefore, we explored the association between maternal residential proximity to major roadways and risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Information on cases with acute leukemia (n = 2030) was obtained for the period 1995–2011 from the Texas Cancer Registry. Birth certificate controls were frequency matched (10:1) on birth year (n = 20,300). Three residential proximity measures were assessed: (1) distance to nearest major roadway, (2) residence within 500 meters of a major roadway, and (3) roadway density. Multivariate logistic regression was used to generate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Mothers who lived ≤500 meters to a major roadway were not more likely to have a child who developed ALL (OR = 1.03; 95% CI: 0.91–1.16) or AML (OR = 0.84; 95% CI: 0.64–1.11). Mothers who lived in areas characterized by high roadway density were not more likely to have children who developed ALL (OR = 1.06, 95% CI: 0.93–1.20) or AML (OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.61–1.13). Our results do not support the hypothesis that maternal proximity to major roadways is strongly associated with childhood acute leukemia. Future assessments evaluating the role of early-life exposure to environmental factors on acute leukemia risk should explore novel methods for directly measuring exposures during relevant periods of development.
Highlights
Acute leukemia is the most common childhood cancer in the United States and consists of two main subtypes: acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL; 73% of cases ages 0–19 years) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML; 18% of cases ages 0–19 years) [1]
Information on cases was obtained from the Texas Cancer Registry (TCR), a statewide population-based cancer registry administered by the Texas Department of State Health Services (TX DSHS), which was Gold certified by the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries during the study period
The TCR identified children born in Texas between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 2011 who were diagnosed with an acute leukemia before 17 years of age during the same period
Summary
Acute leukemia is the most common childhood cancer in the United States and consists of two main subtypes: acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL; 73% of cases ages 0–19 years) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML; 18% of cases ages 0–19 years) [1]. Due to advances in therapy, 5-year survival for those diagnosed with acute leukemia is approaching 90% [2,3,4]. Survivors often face chronic health conditions as a consequence of their therapy, including diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and neurocognitive deficits [5,6]. The incidence of childhood leukemia has been steadily. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 2029; doi:10.3390/ijerph16112029 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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