Childhood leukemia and environmental factors

• Author(s): Health Council of the Netherlands
• Date: 2012
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/1237
• Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Nacional de Saúde
• Subject(s): Doenças Genéticas; Childhood Leukemia; Environmental Factors
• Document Type: Report
• Language: English

Description

One of the Consulted experts: Paula Ambrósio, Lab. de Doenças Hematológicas Malignas, Unidade de Citogenética, Departamento de Genética, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Lisboa, Portugal (P. 129) Every year, about 80 children in Belgium and 140 children in the Netherlands are diagnosed with leukaemia. A longstanding question is which role environmental factors play in the occurrence of this disease. An extensive evaluation of the scientific knowledge on a wide range of possible factors, jointly undertaken by the Belgian Superior Health Council and the Dutch Health Council within the framework of the European Science Advisory Network for Health (EuSANH), shows in general limited evidence for causal links with leukaemia in children. The possibilities for protective measures are therefore also limited, especially given the complex interplay between genetic susceptibilities and environmental exposures, both natural and man-made. It is highly likely that most cases of leukaemia cannot be prevented, and it will probably never be possible to explain individual cases of childhood leukaemia.