Wilms tumour and paternal occupation: An analysis of data from the national registry of childhood tumours

• Published in: Pediatric Blood & Cancer Vol. 53; no. 1; pp. 28 - 32
• Main Authors: Fear, N.T., Vincent, T.J., King, J.C., MacCarthy, A., Bunch, K.J., Murphy, M.F.G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 15-07-2009
• Subjects: Adult; childhood; Female; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Kidney Neoplasms - epidemiology; Male; Occupational Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Occupations - classification; Odds Ratio; Paternal Exposure - statistics & numerical data; paternal occupation; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - epidemiology; Registries; Risk Assessment; Social Class; United Kingdom - epidemiology; Wilms Tumor - epidemiology; Wilms tumour; British Isles
• ISSN: 1545-5009; 1545-5017; 1096-911X
• DOI: 10.1002/pbc.22013

Background
Wilms tumour is an embryonal malignant tumour that accounts for 90% of childhood kidney cancers. Parental occupational exposure has been hypothesised to be a cause of childhood Wilms tumour, in particular exposure to pesticides. However, the findings are inconsistent.
Procedure
We have examined the association between paternal occupational exposures and Wilms tumour using birth registration data for cases (n = 2568) from the National Registry of Childhood Tumours (NRCT) and matched controls (n = 2,568) drawn from the general population of Great Britain. Paternal occupation, as recorded at the time of birth, was used to infer “occupational exposure” using a previously defined occupational exposure classification scheme. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were generated using conditional logistic regression with exact methods to estimate the association between each paternal occupational exposure group and childhood Wilms tumour.
Results
All odds ratios were close to 1.00 and no statistically significant associations were observed.
Conclusion
The results of this study failed to support any of the previously identified associations between paternal occupation and childhood Wilms tumour. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2009;53:28–32. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.