Over-sized newborns could be in the risk category for childhood cancer, according to a recent study.
Researchers from France, Italy and Germany have published the details of the study in the European Journal of Cancer, indicating that the number of cases of childhood cancer in Europe has shot up from 120 cases per million in 1978 to 140 in 1997. The rise is attributed to alterations in lifestyle and environment.Eva Steliarova-Foucher, a senior epidemiologist at Lyon's International Agency for Cancer Research said, "Children are being born heavier and higher birth weight has been linked with cancers such as leukaemia, Wilm's tumour [kidney cancer] and neuroblastoma”
Bruce Morland, a pediatric oncologist at Birmingham Children's Hospital, has expressed the difficulty to pin point a single cause, though there is an apparent environmental connection in the incidences of cancer.
Source-Medindia
SAV
