title: Familial clustering of neural tube defects and gastric cancer.
abstract: A retrospective cohort study was conducted to determine whether producing an offspring with a neural tube defect (NTD) is associated with the development of unusual patterns of cancer among the parents in subsequent years. Mothers and fathers who had a child with an NTD in Upstate New York from 1945 to 1955 were followed through 1979 and compared to a control group of parents with normal offspring. Overall mortality and site-specific cancer incidence were not significantly different for case parents versus control parents, with the exception of gastric cancer, which occurred significantly more frequently in case parents. The finding of a familial association between NTDs and gastric cancer, coupled with a parallel decline in rates of these two diseases, suggests a common aetiology, perhaps related to dietary factors.
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University, School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510.
authors: D T
authors: DT
authors: Janerich
authors: S T
authors: ST
authors: Mayne
authors: W D
authors: WD
authors: Thompson
authors: A D
authors: AD
authors: Stark
authors: E F
authors: EF
authors: Fitzgerald
authors: H I
authors: HI
authors: Jacobson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013029:Space-Time Clustering; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics