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Background: This nationwide study investigated associations between paternal occupational exposure and childhood bone tumours and soft- tissue sarcomas., Methods: The UK National Registry of Childhood Tumours provided cases of childhood sarcomas born and diagnosed in Great Britain, 1962-2010. Control births, unaffected by childhood cancer, were matched on sex, birth period and birth registration sub-district. Fathers' occupations were assigned to one or more of 33 exposure groups and coded for occupational social class., Results: We analysed 5,369 childhood sarcoma cases and 5380 controls. Total bone tumours, total soft-tissue sarcomas and the subgroups osteosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma and Ewing Sarcoma Family of Tumours (ESFT) were considered separately. Significant positive associations were seen between rhabdomyosarcoma and paternal exposure to EMFs (odds ratio = 1.67, CI = 1.22-2.28) and also for ESFT and textile dust (1.93, 1.01-3.63). There were putative protective effects on total bone tumours of paternal dermal exposure to hydrocarbons, metal, metal working or oil mists., Conclusions: Despite the large size and freedom from bias of this study, our results should be interpreted with caution. Many significance tests were undertaken, and chance findings are to be expected. Nevertheless, our finding of associations between ESFT and paternal exposure to textile dust may support related suggestions in the literature.

Background: This nationwide study investigates associations between paternal occupational exposure and childhood lymphoma., Methods: The UK National Registry of Childhood Tumours provided cases of childhood lymphoma born and diagnosed in Great Britain 1962-2010. Control births, unaffected by childhood cancer, were matched on sex, birth period and birth registration sub-district. Fathers' occupations were assigned to one or more of 33 exposure groups and also coded for occupational social class., Results: We analysed 5033 childhood lymphoma cases and 4990 controls. Total lymphoma and the subgroups Hodgkin, Burkitt and non-Hodgkin lymphoma were considered separately. No one exposure was significantly associated with increased risk within all subgroups and for total lymphoma. However, exposure to "ceramics and glass" was significantly associated with increased risk of total lymphoma, Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Paternal lead exposure was associated with Burkitt lymphoma and exposure to metal fumes was associated with Hodgkin lymphoma., Conclusions: This study provides no support for previous suggestions of an association between childhood lymphoma and paternal occupational exposure to pesticides, solvents/hydrocarbons or infections potentially transmitted by father's social contacts. An association with exposure to "ceramics and glass" was noted for the two major lymphoma subtypes together comprising 80% of total lymphoma.

Background: We summarise the work of the Childhood Cancer Research Group, particularly in relation to the UK National Registry of Childhood Tumours (NRCT)., Methods: The Group was responsible for setting up and maintaining the NRCT. This registry was based on notifications from regional cancer registries, specialist children's tumour registries, paediatric oncologists and clinical trials organisers. For a large sample of cases, data on controls matched by date and place of birth were also collected., Results: Significant achievements of the Group include: studies of aetiology and of genetic epidemiology; proposals for, and participation in, international comparative studies of these diseases and on a classification system specifically for childhood cancer; the initial development of, and major contributions to, follow-up studies of the health of long-term survivors; the enhancement of cancer registration records by the addition of clinical data and of birth records. The Group made substantial contributions to the UK government's Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment., Conclusion: An important part of the ethos of the Group was to work in collaboration with many other organisations and individuals, both nationally and internationally: many of the Group's achievements described here were the result of such collaborations.

Background: High doses of ionising radiation are a known cause of childhood cancer and great public and professional interest attaches to possible links between childhood cancer and lower doses, particularly of man-made radiation. This paper describes work done by the Childhood Cancer Research Group (CCRG) on this topic METHODS: Most UK investigations have made use of the National Registry of Childhood Tumours and associated controls. Epidemiological investigations have included national incidence and mortality analyses, geographical investigations, record linkage and case-control studies. Dosimetric studies use biokinetic and dosimetric modelling., Results: This paper reviews the work of the CCRG on the association between exposure to ionising radiation and childhood cancer, 1975-2014., Conclusion: The work of CCRG has been influential in developing understanding of the causes of 'clusters' of childhood cancer and the risks arising from exposure to ionising radiation both natural and man-made. Some clusters around nuclear installations have certainly been observed, but ionising radiation does not seem to be a plausible cause. The group's work has also been instrumental in discounting the hypothesis that paternal preconception irradiation was a cause of childhood cancers and has demonstrated an increased leukaemia risk for children exposed to higher levels of natural gamma-ray radiation.