High Birth Weight and Infant Leukemia Risk

Sample size: 641 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Koifman S, Pombo-de-Oliveira M S, The Brazilian Collaborative Study Group of Infant Acute Leukemia

Primary Institution: National School of Public Health/FIOCRUZ and Instituto Nacional De Câncer

Is high birth weight an important risk factor for infant leukemia?

The study suggests that high birth weight is associated with an increased risk of infant leukemia.

Infant leukemia cases weighing 3000–3999g had an odds ratio of 1.68 compared to those weighing 2500–2999g.
Infant leukemia cases weighing 4000g or more had an odds ratio of 2.28 compared to those weighing 2500–2999g.
Low birth weight was more common among controls (16.8%) than IL cases (8.0%).
Statistical analyses were performed using unconditional logistic regression models.

Babies who weigh a lot at birth might have a higher chance of getting leukemia when they are very young.

The study compared birth weight distributions among infant leukemia cases and non-cancer controls using a hospital-based case-control design.

Potential bias from using hospital-based controls instead of population-based controls.

The study may not fully account for all confounding factors and the MLL status was unknown for many low birth weight cases.

Participants included 201 infant leukemia cases and 440 matched non-cancer controls from Brazil.

0.0002

95% CI: 1.03–2.76 for 3000–3999g; 95% CI: 1.08–4.75 for 4000g or more

p<0.01

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