The Journal of Young Investigators: An Undergraduate, Peer-Reviewed Science Journal
Volume 20, Issue 3. September 2010
People With More Siblings Have Higher Risk of Brain Tumors
MRI scan showing the brain tumor. Image courtesy of Davidson College.
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22 December 2006 -
Siblings may cause more than rivalry during childhood. According to a study published in the latest issue of the official journal of American Academy of Neurology, people with more siblings are more likely to develop a brain tumor.
The study analyzed 13,613 brain tumor cases obtained from the Swedish Family-Cancer Database to look for a correlation between the number of siblings and the risk of tumors in the nervous system. The corresponding author for the study, Andrea Altieri analyzed the data taking into account potential confounding effects of age, birth cohort, socioeconomic status, and family history of cancer.
The study found that people with four or more siblings were twice as likely to develop a brain tumor as people with no siblings. Moreover, among children younger than 15, there was a two to fourfold increase in brain tumor rates in those who had three or more younger siblings compared to children of the same age who had no siblings. The study did not find any correlation between the number of older siblings and the brain tumor.
Altieri says, “Since the size of a family and the number of younger siblings correlate with the incidence of brain tumors, this suggests infectious agents may be causing the disease”. He further adds, “The number of siblings a person has indicates they were exposed at an early age to infections, since children come in close contact with each other and thereby share exposures to many infectious agents.”
Every year around 200,000 people are diagnosed with brain tumor in US alone and they are the leading cause of solid tumor cancer death in children under the age of 20. Altieri hopes the results will pave the path for more researches to identify the specific infectious agents that are responsible for causing the tumor.
“The two to fourfold increased risks for individuals with a high number of younger siblings are stronger than most established risk factors for the disease,” says Altieri.
The study analyzed 13,613 brain tumor cases obtained from the Swedish Family-Cancer Database to look for a correlation between the number of siblings and the risk of tumors in the nervous system. The corresponding author for the study, Andrea Altieri analyzed the data taking into account potential confounding effects of age, birth cohort, socioeconomic status, and family history of cancer.
The study found that people with four or more siblings were twice as likely to develop a brain tumor as people with no siblings. Moreover, among children younger than 15, there was a two to fourfold increase in brain tumor rates in those who had three or more younger siblings compared to children of the same age who had no siblings. The study did not find any correlation between the number of older siblings and the brain tumor.
Altieri says, “Since the size of a family and the number of younger siblings correlate with the incidence of brain tumors, this suggests infectious agents may be causing the disease”. He further adds, “The number of siblings a person has indicates they were exposed at an early age to infections, since children come in close contact with each other and thereby share exposures to many infectious agents.”
Every year around 200,000 people are diagnosed with brain tumor in US alone and they are the leading cause of solid tumor cancer death in children under the age of 20. Altieri hopes the results will pave the path for more researches to identify the specific infectious agents that are responsible for causing the tumor.
“The two to fourfold increased risks for individuals with a high number of younger siblings are stronger than most established risk factors for the disease,” says Altieri.
Journal of Young
Investigators. 2008. Volume 15.
Copyright © 2008 by Freel Kathryn and and JYI. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2008 by Freel Kathryn and and JYI. All rights reserved.