Institute of Biology, Medicinal Chemistry and Biotechnology, National Hellenic Research Foundation, 48 Vassileos Constantinou Avenue, 11635, Athens, Greece.
Arch Toxicol. 2019 Apr;93(4):833-857. doi: 10.1007/s00204-019-02428-3. Epub 2019 Mar 11.
The factors underlying the increasing rates and the geographic variation of childhood cancers are largely unknown. Epidemiological studies provide limited evidence for a possible role in the etiology of certain types of childhood cancer of the exposure of pregnant women to environmental carcinogens (e.g., tobacco smoke and pesticides); however, such evidence is inadequate to allow definitive conclusions. Complementary evidence can be obtained from biomarker-based population studies. Such studies have demonstrated that, following exposure of pregnant mothers, most environmental carcinogens reach the fetus and, in many cases, induce therein genotoxic damage which in adults is known to be associated with increased cancer risk, implying that environmental carcinogens may contribute to the etiology of childhood cancer. During recent years, intermediate disease biomarkers, obtained via omic profiling, have provided additional insights into the impact of transplacental exposures on fetal tissues which, in some cases, are also compatible with a precarcinogenic role of certain in utero exposures. Here we review the epidemiological and biomarker evidence and discuss how further research, especially utilizing high-density profiling, may allow a better evaluation of the links between in utero environmental exposures and cancer in children.
导致儿童癌症发病率和地理分布差异的因素在很大程度上尚不清楚。流行病学研究为孕妇接触环境致癌物（如烟草烟雾和杀虫剂）可能在某些类型儿童癌症的病因学中起作用提供了有限的证据；然而，这些证据不足以得出明确的结论。基于生物标志物的人群研究可以提供补充证据。这些研究表明，在孕妇接触环境致癌物后，大多数环境致癌物会到达胎儿体内，并且在许多情况下，会在胎儿体内引起遗传毒性损伤，而在成年人中，这种损伤与癌症风险增加有关，这意味着环境致癌物可能会导致儿童癌症的发生。近年来，通过组学分析获得的中间疾病生物标志物为了解经胎盘暴露对胎儿组织的影响提供了更多的信息，在某些情况下，这些信息也与某些宫内暴露具有致癌前作用相一致。在这里，我们回顾了流行病学和生物标志物证据，并讨论了如何进一步研究，特别是利用高密度分析，以更好地评估宫内环境暴露与儿童癌症之间的联系。
