SynthesisBritish journal of cancer2018
A systematic review and meta-analysis of the association between childhood infections and the risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
Synthesis in British journal of cancer, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed.
- Beyond oncogenesis: the unexplored benefits of viruses in cancer immunity.Nature reviews. Cancer · 2026Review
- Early-life infections and childhood cancer risk: a nationwide cohort study of 2 million children.BMC cancer · 2026Article
- Infection and risk of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.JAAD international · 2026Article
- Mendelian randomization analysis reveals the causal relationship between immune cells and leukemia.Discover oncology · 2025Article
- Molecular and Serological Detection of Human Parvovirus B19 in a Sample of Iraqi Patients with Acute Lymphoid Leukemia in Relation to Hematological Parameters.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2025Article
- Early Infection Incidence and Risk of Acute Leukemia Development Among Mexican Children.Cancers · 2025Article
- Prenatal and Perinatal Factors Associated with Infant Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia: A Scoping Review.Cancers · 2025Review
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- Review
- Association between medically diagnosed postnatal infection and childhood cancers: A matched case-control study in Denmark, 1978 to 2016.International journal of cancer · 2023Article
- Decreased IL-10 accelerates B-cell leukemia/lymphoma in a mouse model of pediatric lymphoid leukemia.Blood advances · 2022Article
- Leukemia Risk in a Cohort of 3.9 Million Children with and without Down Syndrome.The Journal of pediatrics · 2021Article
- History of Early Childhood Infections and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Risk Among Children in a US Integrated Health-Care System.American journal of epidemiology · 2020Article
- Epidemiology and Etiology of Leukemia and Lymphoma.Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine · 2020Review
- Is There Etiologic Heterogeneity between Subtypes of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia? A Review of Variation in Risk by Subtype.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2019Review
- Macrophage-Derived IL1β and TNFα Regulate Arginine Metabolism in Neuroblastoma.Cancer research · 2019Article
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTo determine whether childhood infections were associated with the development of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).
methodsWe included studies that assessed any infection in childhood prior to the diagnosis of ALL in children aged 0-19 years compared to children without cancer. The primary analysis synthesised any infection against the odds of ALL, and secondary analyses assessed the frequency, severity, timing of infections, and specific infectious agents against the odds of ALL. Subgroup analyses by data source were investigated.
resultsIn our primary analysis of 12 496 children with ALL and 2 356 288 children without ALL from 38 studies, we found that any infection was not associated with ALL (odds ratio (OR)=1.10, 95% CI: 0.95-1.28). Among studies with laboratory-confirmed infections, the presence of infections increased the odds of ALL by 2.4-fold (OR=2.42, 95% CI: 1.54-3.82). Frequency, severity, and timing of infection were not associated with ALL.
conclusionsThe hypothesis put forward by Greaves and others about an infectious aetiology are neither confirmed nor refuted and the overall evidence remains inadequate for good judgement. The qualitative difference in the subgroup effects require further study, and future research will need to address the challenges in measuring infectious exposures.
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