title: Is Month of Birth a Risk Factor for Colorectal Cancer?
abstract: Introduction. The developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis and season of birth have been linked to a wide variety of later life conditions including cancer. Whether any relationship between month and season of birth and colorectal cancer exists is unknown.Methods. A case-control study was performed with month of birth extracted from a dedicated colorectal cancer database. Age and gender matched patients were used as a control group. Generalised linear models were fitted with Poisson and negative binomial responses and logarithmic links. A forward stepwise approach was followed adding seasonal components with 6- and 12-month periods.Results. 1019 colorectal cancer patients and 1277 randomly selected age and gender matched controls were included. For both men and women there is an excess of colorectal cancer in those born in autumn and a corresponding reduction of risk among those born in spring (p= 0.026). For the identified September peak, the excess risk for colorectal cancer was 14.8% (95% CI 5.6-32.3%) larger than the spring trough.Conclusion. There is a seasonal effect in the monthly birth rates of people who are operated for colorectal cancer with a disproportionate excess of cancer in those born in September. Further large studies are required to validate these findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Higher Kingston, Yeovil BA21 4AT, UK; Faculty of Science, University of Bath, Wessex House 3.22, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
authors.forename: N K
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8498-9175
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Francis
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Higher Kingston, Yeovil BA21 4AT, UK; Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, Floor 10, QEQM Building, St. Mary's Hospital, Praed Street, London W2 1NY, UK.
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Higher Kingston, Yeovil BA21 4AT, UK.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Noble
authors.affiliation: Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Child Health, University College London, 30 Guilford St, London WC1N 1EH, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cortina-Borja
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Salib