Maternal genitourinary tract infection during pregnancy associated with leukemia in kids

The primary outcome was any leukemia; secondary outcomes were acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Offspring childhood leukemia was identified in the Danish National Cancer Registry. Associations were first assessed in the whole cohort using Cox proportional hazards regression models, adjusted for potential confounders. A sibling analysis was performed to account for unmeasured familial confounding.

Results

• This study included 2 222 797 children, 51.3% of whom were boys. During the approximately 27 million person-years of follow-up, 1307 children were diagnosed with leukemia

• Children born to mothers with infection during pregnancy had a 35% increased risk of leukemia compared with offspring of mothers without infection.

• Maternal genital and urinary tract infections were associated with a 142% and 65% increased risk of childhood leukemia, with HRs of 2.42 and 1.65, respectively.

• No association was observed for respiratory tract, digestive, or other infections.

• The sibling analysis showed comparable estimates to the whole-cohort analysis.

• The association patterns for ALL and AML were similar to that for any leukemia.

• No association was observed for maternal infection and brain tumors, lymphoma, or other childhood cancers.

In this cohort study of approximately 2.2 million children, maternal genitourinary tract infection during pregnancy was associated with childhood leukemia among offspring. If confirmed in future studies, our findings may have implications for understanding the etiology and developing preventive measures for childhood leukemia.

He J, Yu Y, Fang F, et al. Evaluation of Maternal Infection During Pregnancy and Childhood Leukemia Among Offspring in Denmark. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(2):e230133. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.013