Guest guest Posted September 6, 2004 Report Share Posted September 6, 2004 Mon 6 Sep 2004 5:59pm (UK) Pollution May Be Key to Rise in Childhood Leukaemia By Lyndsay Moss and Jennifer Sym, PA News http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3462038 Pesticides and other environmental pollution may affect unborn children – and play a role in the rising rates of childhood leukaemia, new research suggested tonight. A study, unveiled today at the First International Scientific Conference on Childhood Leukaemia in London, indicated harmful environmental agents can cross the placenta from mother to foetus. The study suggests the transfer could affect the immune system of the child, which could be linked to the increasing incidence of the disease. Children in the womb are particularly sensitive to environmental agents, the scientists found, after carrying out tests on donated human placentas and pregnant guinea pigs. The paper was released as experts warned that falling numbers of deaths from childhood leukaemia had diverted attention away from rising rates. Professor Alan Preece, Professor of Medical Physics at the University of Bristol, said: “We think it has an affect on immunology which is possibly linked to leukaemia. “We found that foetal organ concentrations can exceed those of the mother which may have implications due to the increased sensitivity of the foetus. “The exact levels are as yet unknown but we know that childhood leukaemia is initiated in utero and this could well be a factor in the initiation. “Consideration must now be given to the likely risk estimates.” A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “We welcome the research coming out on risk factors associated with leukaemia and support the debate surrounding this issue. “The Department of Health has contributed considerable funding to this type of research as an important area of medical knowledge to develop.” Some 500 youngsters under the age of 15 are diagnosed with leukaemia in Britain each year, with about 100 children dying. Leukaemia accounts for about a third of all cancers in children, and the number of new cases being diagnosed annually has been rising for at least 40 years, particularly in youngsters under the age of five. It is widely accepted that the cancer starts in the womb, with some second event triggering development of the disease in childhood. Scientists are now trying to find out whether genetic, environmental, dietary or other factors are causing more children to be struck down. Professor Michel Coleman, Professor of Epidemiology and Vital Statistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: “We have become steadily better at treating it – at least in the sense of preventing children dying from it – but we have made little or no progress in preventing it. “Rational approaches to prevention are difficult to formulate when so little is known about the cause.” In the late 1960s the mortality rate for leukaemia among children up to 14 was about 26 deaths per million of the population in England and Wales. This dropped to around 10 per million by the late 1990s. But the incidence rate increased from about 40 cases per million in the 1960s to 45 per million in the late 1990s. However, by looking at reliable mortality trends between 1911 and the 1950s and incidence and survival data available since the 1960s, Prof Coleman said it was apparent that the rise in cases had been going on much longer. “Suggestions that part of the increase has been due to more children surviving infancy to reach the peak age of leukaemia incidence (1-4 years) and to improved registration and diagnosis of the disease, may be partly true, but they cannot plausibly explain the overall pattern of data now at our disposal,” he said. The charity Children with Leukaemia – which today launched a £1 million fund for new research – said the upward trend in cases, the inability to pin down the cause and concerns over the long-term effect of cancer treatments had prompted it to organise the conference. This week experts from across Europe, America, Asia and Australia will discuss issues such as radiation, smoking, viruses and air pollution. They will also look at areas which have received less attention, such as the impact of diet in early childhood, light pollution, damaging materials affecting the unborn child and medicines in pregnancy. Conference chairman Professor Denis Henshaw said: “If the increased risk facing today’s children is at least partly caused by modern lifestyle factors, as is suggested by the increasing incidence, then it may be possible to take some preventative measures. “But first we need to determine what these factors are.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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