Residential Pesticide Exposures in Pregnancy and the Risk of Sporadic Retinoblastoma: A Report From the Children's Oncology Group

Abstract

Purpose To examine whether parental pesticide exposure contributes to the development of sporadic retinoblastoma. Design Case-control study. Methods Data were collected by a large multicenter study of sporadic retinoblastoma in which parents of 99 unilateral and 56 bilateral age matched case-control pairs were interviewed by telephone. Retrospective exposure information was collected on the type, location, timing and frequency of residential pesticide use. We used conditional logistic regression analyses to estimate odds ratios for maternal pesticide exposure in the month before or during pregnancy and to assess whether the type of product, and the circumstances under which it was applied, were associated with risk of disease. Results Unilateral retinoblastoma was associated with parental insecticide use (OR, 2.8; CI, 1.1–6.7) and the use of professional lawn or landscape services (OR, 2.8; CI, 1.0–8.2). For bilateral disease we observed large point estimates for several exposures but the small number of cases rendered these results uninformative i.e. resulted in wide confidence intervals. Whether parents used the pesticide inside vs. outside the home did not appear to modify risk estimates for unilateral retinoblastoma (OR, 2.5; CI, 0.9–7.0 vs. OR, 2.5; CI, 1.0–6.5), nor did the type, frequency, timing related to pregnancy or applicator of pesticide used influence estimates to an appreciable degree for disease. Conclusions Our results suggest that parental pesticide exposure before or during pregnancy may play a role in the development of childhood retinoblastoma. Retrospectively collected exposure data introduces the possibility of recall bias, therefore, results should be interpreted cautiously until additional studies are conducted.

Parental occupational exposures and the risk of childhood sporadic retinoblastoma: a report from the Children’s Oncology Group

“…For non-occupational exposures, one study reporting on household pesticide use found the risk for non-heritable unilateral retinoblastoma to be increased among mothers who were exposed to insect or garden sprays during pregnancy, although CIs were wide (OR: 2.7; 95% CI: 0.6 to 15.6) 35. We recently reported an increased risk of unilateral disease associated with parental use of home insecticides as well as home use of professional lawn or landscape services 36. Two studies examined the association between ionising radiation exposure in parents and the development of retinoblastoma in offspring, and both found that mothers who had high gonadal radiation exposure were at increased risk of having a child with sporadic bilateral retinoblastoma, although only the larger, more rigorous study was sufficiently powered 8 35…”

Parental Occupation and Risk of Childhood Retinoblastoma in Denmark

“…Paternal work in agriculture or as a pesticide applicator has been examined as a risk factor for retinoblastoma or among childhood eye cancers (of which retinoblastoma accounts for over 90%) (13)(14)(15)(16)(17); however, only two of these studies found positive associations (10,18). These positive associations are further supported by findings of increased retinoblastoma risk when parents use insecticides in their homes (19,20). Other occupational studies have reported increased risk of retinoblastoma among children of fathers who are electrical workers (21), exposed to paints (22), or employed in the metal industry (11,12).…”

Epigenetic Inheritance: Intergenerational Effects of Pesticides and Other Endocrine Disruptors on Cancer Development

“…The RB1 gene inactivation occurs during DNA replication in proliferating retinal progenitor cells, and retinal progenitor cell proliferation occurs only in the fetal retina. Since genetic inactivation is required in both copies of RB1 to induce retinoblastoma, it has been proposed that prenatal exposure to pesticides could act as a second hit [72].…”