title: Socioeconomic position in childhood and cancer in adulthood: a rapid-review.
abstract: The relationship of childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) to adult cancer has been inconsistent in the literature and there has been no review summarising the current evidence focused solely on cancer outcomes.
  
  
  
  We performed a rapid review of the literature, which identified 22 publications from 13 studies, primarily in the UK and northern European countries that specifically analysed individual measures of SEP in childhood and cancer outcomes in adulthood. Most of these studies adjusted for adult SEP as a critical mediator of the relationship of interest.
  
  
  
  Results confirm that childhood socioeconomic circumstances have a strong influence on stomach cancer and are likely to contribute, along with adult circumstances, to lung cancer through cumulative exposure to smoking. There was also some evidence of increased risk of colorectal, liver, cervical and pancreatic cancers with lower childhood SEP in large studies, but small numbers of cancer deaths made these estimates imprecise. Gaps in knowledge and potential policy implications are presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Prevention, Cancer Research UK, London, UK.
authors.forename: Jyotsna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vohra
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, UCL Institute of Health Equity, London, UK.
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Marmot
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Marketing, 3Y1, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bauld
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hiatt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: CANCER; Health inequalities; POLICY; POVERTY; SOCIAL INEQUALITIES