Cancer is the second leading cause of death among children, but despite extensive research, the etiology of childhood cancers remains largely unknown. The workplace is an important source of environmental chemicals and other agents and these exposures may be inadvertently transferred to the fetus or to the home. Research on parental occupational exposures and childhood cancer has suggested several links, but there remain areas of research that are understudied, with one of the most notable gaps being a lack of information on maternal occupational exposures. We propose a large (N=537,000) nested case-control study of children born in Denmark 1965-2010 to examine risks of cancer from parental occupational exposures. Cases will be taken from the Denmark Cancer Registry and controls will be selected at random from the Denmark Central Population Registry. We will have additional information on each child's peri-natal history from the Medical Births Registry. Information on parental job titles is available from the Central Population Registry and information on industry of employment will be taken from the Supplementary Pension Fund, a supplement to the state pension that was established in 1964 and retains information on all employed persons residing in Denmark. We will further use job-exposure matrices that have been previously developed for studies of occupational health in Denmark.
Our aims are to focus on maternal occupational exposures and specific hypotheses of suspected carcinogens that have been observed in the literature. This proposal presents an exciting opportunity to identify specific cancer-occupational links, with the possibility of informing policy on workplace safety regulation and encouraging research on therapeutic and preventive strategies.

Public Health Relevance

Cancer is the second leading cause of death among children, with >10,000 new cases and 2300 cancer deaths expected each year in the US. Unlike with many adult cancers, the etiology of childhood cancers remains poorly understood. This project aims to examine understudied areas of parental exposures to shed light on these complex diseases.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Type
Small Research Grants (R03)
Project #
5R03ES021643-02
Application #
8456948
Study Section
Epidemiology of Cancer Study Section (EPIC)
Program Officer
Gray, Kimberly A
Project Start
2012-04-15
Project End
2014-03-31
Budget Start
2013-04-01
Budget End
2014-03-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2013
Total Cost
$75,460
Indirect Cost
$26,460
Name
University of California Los Angeles
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Public Health
DUNS #
092530369
City
Los Angeles
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90095
Omidakhsh, Negar; Bunin, Greta R; Ganguly, Arupa et al. (2018) Parental occupational exposures and the risk of childhood sporadic retinoblastoma: a report from the Children's Oncology Group. Occup Environ Med 75:205-211
Hall, Clinton; Ritz, Beate; Cockburn, Myles et al. (2017) Risk of malignant childhood germ cell tumors in relation to demographic, gestational, and perinatal characteristics. Cancer Epidemiol 46:42-49
Contreras, Zuelma A; Hansen, Johnni; Ritz, Beate et al. (2017) Parental age and childhood cancer risk: A Danish population-based registry study. Cancer Epidemiol 49:202-215
Omidakhsh, Negar; Ganguly, Arupa; Bunin, Greta R et al. (2017) Residential Pesticide Exposures in Pregnancy and the Risk of Sporadic Retinoblastoma: A Report From the Children's Oncology Group. Am J Ophthalmol 176:166-173
Azary, Saeedeh; Ganguly, Arupa; Bunin, Greta R et al. (2016) Sporadic Retinoblastoma and Parental Smoking and Alcohol Consumption before and after Conception: A Report from the Children's Oncology Group. PLoS One 11:e0151728
Heck, Julia E; Contreras, Zuelma A; Park, Andrew S et al. (2016) Smoking in pregnancy and risk of cancer among young children: A population-based study. Int J Cancer 139:613-6
Vinceti, Marco; Malagoli, Carlotta; Malavolti, Marcella et al. (2016) Does maternal exposure to benzene and PM10 during pregnancy increase the risk of congenital anomalies? A population-based case-control study. Sci Total Environ 541:444-450
Filippini, Tommaso; Heck, Julia E; Malagoli, Carlotta et al. (2015) A review and meta-analysis of outdoor air pollution and risk of childhood leukemia. J Environ Sci Health C Environ Carcinog Ecotoxicol Rev 33:36-66
Heck, Julia E; Omidakhsh, Negar; Azary, Saeedeh et al. (2015) A case-control study of sporadic retinoblastoma in relation to maternal health conditions and reproductive factors: a report from the Children's Oncology group. BMC Cancer 15:735
Lombardi, Christina; Ganguly, Arupa; Bunin, Greta R et al. (2015) Maternal diet during pregnancy and unilateral retinoblastoma. Cancer Causes Control 26:387-97

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