Sporadic Retinoblastoma and Parental Smoking and Alcohol Consumption before and after Conception: A Report from the Children's Oncology Group

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 3; p. e0151728
• Main Authors: Azary, Saeedeh, Ganguly, Arupa, Bunin, Greta R, Lombardi, Christina, Park, Andrew S, Ritz, Beate, Heck, Julia E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 18-03-2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Alcohol Drinking - adverse effects; Alcohol use; Alcoholic beverages; Biology and Life Sciences; Canada - epidemiology; Cancer; Care and treatment; Case-Control Studies; Child; Child, Preschool; Children; Complications and side effects; Confidence intervals; Diagnosis; Drinking (Alcoholic beverages); Etiology; Female; Health aspects; Health risk assessment; Humans; Identification methods; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mutation; Parents; People and Places; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Retina; Retinoblastoma; Retinoblastoma - epidemiology; Retinoblastoma - etiology; Risk Factors; Smoking; Smoking - adverse effects; Social Sciences; Socioeconomic factors; Statistical analysis; Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tobacco; Tobacco smoke; Tobacco Smoke Pollution - adverse effects; Tobacco smoking; Tumors; United States - epidemiology; Canada; United States; New York; Los Angeles California; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151728

Retinoblastoma is the most frequent tumor of the eye in children and very little is known about the etiology of non-familial (sporadic) retinoblastoma. In this study we examined whether parental tobacco smoking or alcohol consumption (pre- or post-conception) contribute to the two phenotypes (bilateral or unilateral) of sporadic retinoblastoma.
Two large multicenter case-control studies identified 488 cases through eye referral centers in the United States and Canada or through the Children's Oncology Group. Controls (n = 424) were selected from among friends and relatives of cases and matched by age. Risk factor information was obtained via telephone interview. We employed multivariable logistic regression to estimate the effects of parental tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption on retinoblastoma.
Maternal smoking before and during pregnancy contributed to unilateral retinoblastoma risk in the child: year before pregnancy conditional Odds Ratio (OR), 8.9; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5-51, and unconditional OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.3-4.7; month before or during pregnancy, conditional OR, 3.3; 95% CI, 0.5-20.8, and unconditional OR, 2.8; 95% CI, 1.1-7.0. No association was found for maternal or paternal alcohol consumption.
The results of this study indicate that maternal active smoking during pregnancy may be a risk factor for sporadic retinoblastoma. Our study supports a role for tobacco exposures in embryonal tumors.