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. 2015 Mar;26(3):387-97.
doi: 10.1007/s10552-014-0514-z. Epub 2014 Dec 27.

Maternal diet during pregnancy and unilateral retinoblastoma

Christina Lombardi  1 , Arupa Ganguly, Greta R Bunin, Saeedeh Azary, Vivian Alfonso, Beate Ritz, Julia E Heck
Affiliations

Maternal diet during pregnancy and unilateral retinoblastoma

Christina Lombardi et al. Cancer Causes Control. 2015 Mar.

Abstract

Purpose: Previous studies have suggested a role for parental diet in childhood cancer prevention, but there are few studies of retinoblastoma. The aim of this study was to examine the relation between maternal diet and unilateral retinoblastoma.

Methods: A case-control study of 163 unilateral RB cases and 136 controls ascertained information on maternal diet during pregnancy using a standardized food frequency questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to assess the relation between retinoblastoma and food groups and dietary patterns.

Results: We observed a negative association between retinoblastoma and intake of fruit [odds ratio (OR) 0.38, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.14-1.02]. Positive associations were seen with intake of cured meats (OR 5.07, 95 % CI 1.63-15.70) and fried foods (OR 4.89, 95 % CI 1.72-13.89). A food pattern of high fruits and vegetables and low fried food and sweets was negatively associated with disease (OR 0.75, 95 % CI 0.61-0.92).

Conclusion: Our study provides preliminary evidence that mothers who consume diets higher in fruit and lower in fried foods and cured meats during pregnancy may reduce the risk of unilateral retinoblastoma in their offspring.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest

The authors also state that there is no conflict of interest with respect to the contents of this manuscript for any individual author.

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