1. ¹Centre for Clinical and Population Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Mulhouse Building, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BJ, UK
2. ²Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
3. ³Department of Epidemiology, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, PO Box 301439, Houston, Texas 77030-3721, USA
4. ⁴Northern Ireland Cancer Registry, Centre for Clinical and Population Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Mulhouse Building, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BJ, UK

Correspondence: Dr MM Cantwell, Centre for Clinical and Population Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Mulhouse Building, Royal Group of Hospital, Grosvenor Road, Belfast, BT12 6BJ, UK. E-mail: m.cantwell@qub.ac.uk

Received 14 April 2008; Revised 25 July 2008; Accepted 25 July 2008; Published online 19 August 2008.

Abstract

Using population-based linked birth and cancer registry data, we investigated whether the risk of brain tumour in childhood (n=155) was associated with perinatal risk factors. This population-based cohort showed that being born into a larger family or to a mother with a history of miscarriage may increase childhood brain tumour risk.