title: Pregnancy and risk of acute myeloid leukaemia--a case-control study.
abstract: Although maternal haematopoiesis is characterised by rapid proliferation and immunological adjustment, leukaemia seldom occurs in pregnant women. In this case-control study, we investigated pregnancy and risk of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). A total of 785 women with AML diagnosed in ages 15-50 were compared with 1576 age- and sex-matched controls. At the time of diagnosis, 13 cases and 53 controls were pregnant (1.3% and 3.4%, respectively), resulting in a significantly reduced odds ratio of 0.44 (95% confidence interval 0.22-0.85). Odds ratios of AML during the years following childbirth were close to unity. The results suggest that pregnancy conveys a strong short-term protection against AML.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. gunnar.larfors@ki.se
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Larfors
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Höglund
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cnattingius
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015470:Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D011252:Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult