Urban Environmental Exposures and Childhood Cancer

July 20, 2007 updated by: Georgetown University

Case-Control Study of Urban Environmental Effects on Childhood Leukemia and Brain Cancer

The Environmental Protection Agency has recognized that organophosphorus pesticides require close regulation and continued monitoring for human health effects and some (e.g chlorpyrifos) have been phased-out from the consumer market due to the special risk that it posed for children. There is growing evidence in support of the association between pesticide exposure and childhood leukemia. Studies of pesticides and their association with childhood cancer have been limited by study designs, self-reporting and lack of biological measurements. While several large studies in California found little evidence of an association between agricultural pesticide use and childhood leukemia, these results are in contrast with the associations observed with household exposures to pesticides. The real association may depend on timing of exposure, type of pesticide, dose and pathway of exposure. Furthermore, some persons may be more susceptible to the effects of specific pesticides due to inherited mutations in their detoxification pathways.

We are conducting a pilot study to test the hypothesis that environmental exposure to pesticides in pregnancy or during the neonatal period, together with genetic susceptibility may lead to childhood ALL or brain cancer. The study is a multicenter, case-control study, based on collaboration between clinical researchers and basic science research to evaluate the risk for childhood cancer in relation to measured levels of pesticides (and their metabolites) and genetic polymorphisms. Biomarkers will be used to examine the risks of chronic low-dose exposures, and to characterize relationships between specific pesticides, childhood cancer and genetic susceptibility.

Hypothesis: Interaction between environmental factors (pesticides) and maternal or child genetic polymorphisms may lead to childhood cancer.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • District of Columbia
      • Washington, District of Columbia, United States, 20010
        • Children's National Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

No older than 18 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Only newly diagnosed cases of ALL and brain cancers (i.e. diagnosed within the previous 12 months) under the age of 18 years are eligible for this study. These will include live born infants at term or born prematurely, and any cases we are able to ascertain from pediatric hematology records.
  • Healthy controls of similar age will be recruited.
  • The children must have a parent available to be interviewed who speaks English or Spanish well enough to understand the questionnaire.

Exclusion criteria:

  • Subjects with a diagnosis of Down syndrome or other chromosomal disorder, single gene disorder, or recognized multi-organ syndrome will be excluded.
  • Non-residents of Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia will be excluded; this will avoid the inclusion of out-of-state case families who traveled a long distance for clinical care, where control sampling would be problematic.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Georgetown University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Offie P Soldin, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

September 1, 2004

Study Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2006

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 20, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 20, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

July 23, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

July 23, 2007

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 20, 2007

Last Verified

July 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2004-278

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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