Mothers' vitamin intake could prevent risk of cancer

Mothers who take vitamin supplements before and during pregnancy may reduce the risk of their baby developing neuroblastoma, a type of cancer which affects the nervous system, report US researchers.

Andrew Olshan of the Children's Oncology Group in Arcadia, California, and his team report on their findings in the September issue of Epidemiology​.

"In the United States, neuroblastoma has an incidence of 9.1 per million children under the age of 15 years and is the most common tumour in infants,"​ said the researchers.

Neuroblastomas usually occur in babies or young children. The malignant tumours develop in the tissue of the nervous system and spread quickly to the lymph nodes, liver, lung and bone.

While many studies have shown that regular vitamin use by pregnant women can reduce the risk of birth defects such as spina bifida and cleft palate, there is also some evidence which suggested that vitamin intake during pregnancy can reduce the likelihood of neuroblastoma occurring in infants.

Olshan's team questioned 538 women with a child who developed neuroblastoma, about their vitamin and mineral use and compared the responses to those of around 500 mothers whose children did not have the disease.

"Daily vitamin and mineral use in the month before pregnancy and in each trimester was associated with a 30 per cent to 40 per cent reduction in the risk of neuroblastoma,"​ the scientists reported.

The team was unable to isolate the effects of specific vitamins or minerals and are now urging that more research on the relationship between a vitamin use in mothers and neuroblastoma risk be carried out.