Year: 2021
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Although viral hepatitis causes paediatric hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic and extrahepatic cancers in adults, there are few epidemiologic studies on paediatric-cancer risks from parental viral hepatitis. In a nationwide study in a viral hepatitis endemic region and with confirmation in another population-based sample, we examined associations between parental hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) infections and risks of cancers in offspring. METHODS: We included all children born in Taiwan in 2004-2014 (N = 2 079 037) with 2160 cancer cases ascertained from the Cancer Registry. We estimated risks for paediatric cancers using Cox proportional-hazard regressions. We checked these associations in a nationwide case-control study in Denmark (6422 cases, 160 522 controls). RESULTS: In Taiwan, paternal HBV was related to child's hepatoblastoma [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.05, 2.97] when identified at any time in the medical record, and when analyses were limited to hepatitis diagnoses occurring before the child's birth, risks increased (HR = 2.08, 95% CI = 1.13-3.80). Paternal HCV was related to child's non-Hodgkin lymphoma (HR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.13-3.74). Maternal HCV was weakly related to increased risks of all childhood cancers [all types combined; HR = 1.45, 95% CI = 0.95-2.22]. The population-attributable fraction of hepatoblastoma for maternal, paternal and child HBV was 2.6%, 6.8% and 2.8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Parental HBV and HCV may be risk factors for hepatic and non-hepatic cancers in children. If associations are causal, then parental screening and treatment with antivirals may prevent some paediatric cancers.
DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyab262
Institutions: University of North Texas, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Science, University of California, Los Angeles, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Aarhus University, China Medical University, National Cheng Kung University, Danish Cancer Society, Inserm, Taipei Municipal YangMing Hospital, Centre de recherche en Epidémiologie et Santé des Populations, Taipei City Hospital
Language: English
Topic: Hepatitis B Virus Studies
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Taipei City Hospital
Awards: Impacts of Early-Life Greenness and Ambient Particulate Air Pollution Exposures on Childhood Obesity and Related Phenotypes: Examine Potential Implications of Epigenomics, Maternal comorbidities, prescription drug use in pregnancy and childhood cancer, Parental Occupation and Childhood Cancers, G6616966420, G7655975411, G8008942724, G893143633, California Center for Population Research (CCPR) at UCLA
OpenAlex ID: W4205882485