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Loss of a parent and the risk of cancer in early life: a nationwide cohort study

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Abstract

Background

While early-life exposure to stress has been associated with subsequent psychiatric and cardiovascular morbidity, little is known regarding its potential role in cancer development. We hypothesized that severe emotional stress, such as the loss of a parent through death during childhood, may increase the risk of cancer in early life.

Method

Based on the Swedish Multi-Generation Register, we identified a cohort of 4,219,691 individuals who had both parents identifiable in the same register and followed the cohort from birth to the age of 40 years between 1961 and 2006. Through information retrieved from the Swedish Causes of Death and Cancer Registers, we ascertained death among the parents and cancer diagnosis among the cohort individuals. We used Poisson regression to calculate the relative risks (RRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs).

Results

Parental death was not associated with total cancer risk. However, parental death during childhood was associated with a higher risk of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection-related cancers (RR 1.4; 95 % CI 1.2–1.7), and loss during early adulthood (>18 years) entailed a higher risk of cancers of the stomach (RR 1.8; 95 % CI 1.3–2.6), lung (RR 1.7; 95 % CI 1.1–2.4), rectum (RR 1.4; 95 % CI 1.0–2.0), and breast (RR 1.1; 95 % CI 1.0–1.3). A significant association was observed for pancreatic cancer for both loss during childhood (RR 2.6; 95 % CI 1.6–4.2) and afterward (RR 2.8; 95 % CI 1.9–4.3).

Conclusion

Our results suggest that severe psychological stress in early life may be associated with premature development of certain malignancies, particularly cancers related to smoking and HPV infection.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Grants from the Swedish Research Council (K2009-70X-21087-01-2 and SIMSAM 80748301), Alex och Eva Wallströms stiftelse, and The Research Committee in Örebro County Hospital. FF was supported by a postdoctoral Grant from Svenska Sällskapet för Medicinsk Forskning (SSMF).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, School of Health and Medical Sciences, Örebro University and Örebro University Hospital, 701 85, Örebro, Sweden

    Beatrice Kennedy & Katja Fall

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Centre of Public Health Sciences, School of Health Sciences, University of Iceland, 101, Reykjavík, Iceland

    Unnur Valdimarsdóttir & Katja Fall

  3. Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden

    Karin Sundström, Pär Sparén, Mats Lambe & Fang Fang

  4. Regional Cancer Centre, Uppsala University Hospital, 751 85, Uppsala, Sweden

    Mats Lambe

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  1. Beatrice Kennedy
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  7. Fang Fang
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Correspondence to Beatrice Kennedy.

Additional information

Katja Fall and Fang Fang have contributed equally to this work.

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Kennedy, B., Valdimarsdóttir, U., Sundström, K. et al. Loss of a parent and the risk of cancer in early life: a nationwide cohort study. Cancer Causes Control 25, 499–506 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-014-0352-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-014-0352-z

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