Wang R, et al. – This study investigated the link between parental age and risk of pediatric cancer. Findings highlighted a link between advancing parental age, especially advancing maternal age and higher pediatric cancer risk, which varied across types of cancer.

Methods

• Linking birth records and cancer registry data from California, researchers performed a population-based study with 23,419 cases and 87,593 matched controls born during 1978–2009.

Results

• They found that, compared with children born to mothers aged 20–24 years, those born to mothers in older age groups had a 13%–36% higher risk of pediatric cancer; the odds ratio for each 5-year increase in maternal age was 1.06 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04, 1.09).  
• Findings demonstrated that, for cancer diagnosed in children in age groups 0–14 years and 15–19 years, the odds ratios for each 5-year increase in maternal age were 1.05 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.07) and 1.14 (95% CI: 1.09, 1.19), respectively.
• According to data, having an older father also conferred an increased risk, with an odds ratio for each 5-year increase of 1.03 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.05) for cancer diagnosed at ages 0–19 years and 1.03 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.05) for cancer diagnosed at ages 0–14 years.
• In addition, researchers observed that while advancing maternal age increased risk of leukemia and central nervous system tumors, older paternal age was not associated with risk of either type.
• They also noted that both maternal and paternal older ages were associated with risk of lymphoma.