The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #64602

Gladys Block, PhD¹, Patricia A. Buffler, PhD², Xiaomei Ma², and Steve Selvin, PhD³. (1) School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley, 140 Warren Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, (510) 643-7896, gblock@uclink.berkeley.edu, (2) Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study, School of Public Heatlh, University of California, Berkeley, 2150 Shattuck Ave, Suite 500, Berkeley, CA 94720-7380, (3) School of Public Health, Division of Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, 140 Warren Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720

Despite the evidence for the importance of diet in adult tumors, and some research on the roles of cured meats, there are no well-established dietary risk factors in childhood leukemia. The Northern California Childhood Leukemia Study (NCCLS) is an approximately population-based case-control study of risk factors for childhood leukemia. This report is based on 113 cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 113 controls matched on the child’s sex, date of birth, mother’s race, Hispanicity, and county of residence at birth. Maternal dietary intake in the 12 months prior to pregnancy with the index child was obtained with a 76-item food frequency questionnaire, administered by interview. Frequency of consumption of vegetables was associated with lower risk of ALL (OR=0.53 per serving, 95% C.I. 0.28-1.02). Consumption of foods in the Protein Sources Group was also inversely related to risk (OR=0.55 per serving, 95% C.I. 0.31-0.98). Among nutrients, carotenoids were consistently associated with lower risk, although none reached statistical significance. Intake of the antioxidant glutathione and its precursor, cysteine, was associated with strong and significant reduced risk; OR=0.22 for those in the highest cysteine tertile compared with the lowest tertile (95% C.I. 0.06-0.79). For glutathione, the OR=0.26 (C.I. 0.09-0.79) for high vs. low tertile. Maternal dietary factors, specifically the consumption of vegetables, protein sources and related nutrients, may play a role in the etiology of ALL, and glutathione and cysteine appear to be important contributors to this effect.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of the sesion, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to:
• 3. Identify established risk factors for childhood leukemia.
  6. Describe a diet questionnaire useful in childhood leukemia research.
  9. Describe maternal dietary factors associated with risk of childhood leukemia.
  12. Identify dietary sources of glutathione and cysteine.

Keywords: Cancer Prevention, Children

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.