Acute lymphoblastic leukemia in a 2-year-old girl whose mother was previously diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome: a case report

Abstract

BackgroundThe role of maternal exposures and conditions in the origin of childhood cancer has been a subject of growing interest, but current evidence is inconclusive.Case presentationWe present a case detected in a multicenter case–control study evaluating the association between parental risk factors and childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The patient is a Colombian girl who was diagnosed with ALL-L1 when she was 2 years old. Her mother had been diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome before pregnancy and had also been treated with subcutaneous injections of heparin. Other potentially relevant maternal and patient exposures are also reported in this paper.ConclusionWe hypothesize that the maternal autoimmune disease could be a contributor in the causality network of the daughter’s leukemia. However, the role of other exposures cannot be excluded.

Maternal autoimmune disease is not associated with cancer in the offspring

“…Our findings were not consistent with an increased risk of childhood leukaemia or lymphomas following maternal autoimmune disease exposure as previously shown by some, 3,23 but not all studies 9‐12,14,15 . The impact on risk for cancers other than leukaemia or lymphomas also remains inconclusive, with positive associations in other studies possibly due to varying definitions of autoimmune disease, for example, including maternal diabetes which is known to be associated with childhood cancer 24,25 .…”

“…We then considered multiple sensitivity and secondary analyses. Both low and high birth weight have been associated with childhood cancer risk, 20,21 and mothers with an autoimmune disease are known to deliver smaller babies 22,23 . Thus, birth weight is potentially a mediator of the relationship between a maternal autoimmune disease and the offspring cancer risk.…”