Familial clustering of neural tube defects and gastric cancer.
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.
Janerich
D T
DT
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University, School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510.
Mayne
S T
ST
Thompson
W D
WD
Stark
A D
AD
Fitzgerald
E F
EF
Jacobson
H I
HI
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