Maternal use of antibiotics and cancer in the offspring: results of a case-control study in Germany.
OBJECTIVE
As previous results were inconsistent, we assessed the association between maternal use of antibiotics during pregnancy or 3 months before conception and childhood cancer in the offspring in a large case-control study in Germany.


METHODS
This population-based study on potential risk factors for childhood cancer was conducted by the German Childhood Cancer Registry (GCCR) and included a total of 1,867 registered cancer cases aged 0-14, diagnosed between October 1992 and September 1994. A total of 2,057 controls were randomly drawn from population registries, matched by age, gender, and region. Conditional logistic regression models for frequency-matched datasets were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI).


RESULTS
Positive statistically significant associations with self-reported maternal antibiotic use were observed for acute lymphoid leukemia (based on 59 mothers exposed to antibiotics, OR = 1.47; 95% CI: 1.06-2.04), acute myeloid leukemia (18 exposed, OR = 3.21; 95% CI: 1.83-5.62), and Burkitt lymphoma (three exposed, OR = 5.89; 95% CI: 1.47-23.69), but not other cancer types.


CONCLUSIONS
The results provide some support for the hypothesis that maternal use of antibiotics increases the risk of cancer in the offspring. Although recall bias is a concern, it is unlikely that this fully explains the observed effect. Further, the observed associations might be related to the underlying infections.
Kaatsch
Peter
P
German Childhood Cancer Registry, 55101 Mainz, Germany. peter.kaatsch@unimedizin-mainz.de
Scheidemann-Wesp
Ulrike
U
Schüz
Joachim
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents