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Paternal Occupation and Childhood Cancer

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Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 518))

Abstract

Childhood cancer remains an important pediatric disease, not only in terms of disease burden, but also because the epidemiologic and molecular study of childhood cancers has provided a unique insight into the etiology of adult cancer. The two-hit mutational model developed in the 1970s by Knudson based on the descriptive epidemiology and genetics of childhood tumors such as retinoblastoma, Wilms tumor, and neuroblastoma provided an important model for mechanisms of adult cancers (Knudson et al., 1972; Knudson et al., 1975). The environmental (broadly defined) etiology of childhood cancer is uncertain, but paternal occupation has remained as one of the most suggestive associations for a number of years. In this review we will consider the current evidence for paternal occupational exposures and the risk of childhood cancer. We will focus on the promising leads from the most extensively studied childhood cancers, leukemia and brain tumors (central nervous system tumors), and provide directions for future research.

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Olshan, A.F., Wijngaarden, E.v. (2003). Paternal Occupation and Childhood Cancer. In: Robaire, B., Hales, B.F. (eds) Advances in Male Mediated Developmental Toxicity. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 518. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9190-4_12

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