Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and birthweight: Insights from a pooled analysis of case–control data from Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States

Abstract Background Heavy birthweight is one of the few established risk factors for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). To provide new insight into this relationship, particularly at the extremes ( 4500 g), we pooled data from three of the largest childhood cancer case–control studies ever conducted. Methods Birthweight and gestational age on 4075 children with ALL and 12,065 controls were collected during the course of three studies conducted in the USA, the UK and Germany in the 1990s. Information was obtained from mothers at interview, and the impact of bias was evaluated using the UK study which accessed birth registrations of participants and non-participants. Odds ratios (…