Mom’s Diet May Impact Child’s Cancer Risk

Jensen CD, Block G, Buffler P, et al, representing the Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study Group. Maternal dietary risk factors in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (United States). Cancer Causes Control. 2004;15:559-570.

In the year before pregnancy, a maternal diet rich in vegetables and fruits--particularly carrots, string beans, peas, and cantaloupe--may lower a child's risk for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), say researchers from the Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study Group. Their study also found an inverse association between ALL, the most common childhood cancer, and consumption of beans and beef.

Jensen and colleagues obtained data for 138 case-control pairs of children matched by date of birth, sex, maternal race, Hispanic ethnicity of either parent, and county of residence at birth or diagnosis. Maternal dietary intake for the year preceding pregnancy was determined via a 76-item food frequency survey; a Spanish-language version was available, which included seven additional food items "important in the diets of the Latina population." Information on vitamin supplement use was also obtained.

At the time of ALL diagnosis, 77% of the matched pairs were between ages 2 and 10 years. About 54% of case-control pairs were male. The mothers of the study population were 60% non-Hispanic white, 28% Hispanic, 1% non-Hispanic black, and 11% other ethnic groups.

Analysis showed a statistically significant inverse relationship between ALL and maternal consumption of carrots, string beans, peas, beans, and beef. Cantaloupe consumption also had an inverse relationship with ALL, but this was of borderline statistical significance. Vitamin supplementation was not associated with a statistically significant difference in risk. When analyses were restricted to 66 matched pairs whose mothers did not use vitamin supplements, associations were similar to overall reports.

"Fetal exposure to nutritional factors, through maternal diet, could be involved in the disease process by preventing an initial oxidative lesion in DNA, or through DNA repair mechanisms," the authors suggest. While risk and benefit should not be attributed to a single food or nutrient, as correlation may exist between dietary factors, "it would be prudent for women to consume a diet rich in vegetables and fruit prior to and during pregnancy," Jensen et al conclude.