Skip to main content
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health logoLink to Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
. 1999 Mar;53(3):154–158. doi: 10.1136/jech.53.3.154

An assessment of spatial clustering of leukaemias and lymphomas among young people in New Zealand

J D Dockerty, K J Sharples, B Borman
PMCID: PMC1756850  PMID: 10396492

Abstract

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess spatial clustering of childhood leukaemias and lymphomas in New Zealand, using a national dataset from a country with no nuclear installations. DESIGN: New Zealand Map Grid coordinates, derived from the birth addresses of cases and controls were used in clustering analyses that applied Cuzick and Edwards' method. SETTING: The whole of New Zealand. PARTICIPANTS: The cases were ascertained from the New Zealand Cancer Registry. They were diagnosed with leukaemia or lymphoma at ages 0-14 years during the period 1976 to 1987. For Hodgkin's disease, the age range was extended to include those aged from 0-24 years. The cancer registrations were linked with national birth records, to obtain the birth addresses of the cases. The controls were selected at random from birth records, with matching to cases (1:1) on age and sex. The analyses included 600 cases and 600 controls. MAIN RESULTS: There was no statistically significant spatial clustering for any tumour group overall, including acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, acute nonlymphoblastic leukaemia, other leukaemias, non- Hodgkin's lymphomas, Hodgkin's disease, and all these combined. Significant clustering was found in a sub-analysis for one of three age specific subgroups of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ages 10-14 years, p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: The subgroup finding may have been real or a chance association, as several comparisons were made. This study found little evidence for spatial clustering of leukaemias or lymphomas in a population with no nuclear installations.

 

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (105.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Alexander F. E., Boyle P., Carli P. M., Coebergh J. W., Draper G. J., Ekbom A., Levi F., McKinney P. A., McWhirter W., Michaelis J. Spatial clustering of childhood leukaemia: summary results from the EUROCLUS project. Br J Cancer. 1998 Mar;77(5):818–824. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1998.133. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Alexander F. E., Chan L. C., Lam T. H., Yuen P., Leung N. K., Ha S. Y., Yuen H. L., Li C. K., Li C. K., Lau Y. L. Clustering of childhood leukaemia in Hong Kong: association with the childhood peak and common acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and with population mixing. Br J Cancer. 1997;75(3):457–463. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1997.77. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Alexander F. E., Daniel C. P., Armstrong A. A., Clark D. A., Onions D. E., Cartwright R. A., Jarrett R. F. Case clustering, Epstein-Barr virus Reed-Sternberg cell status and herpes virus serology in Hodgkin's disease: results of a case-control study. Eur J Cancer. 1995;31A(9):1479–1486. doi: 10.1016/0959-8049(95)00117-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Alexander F. E., Ricketts T. J., McKinney P. A., Cartwright R. A. Community lifestyle characteristics and incidence of Hodgkin's disease in young people. Int J Cancer. 1991 Apr 22;48(1):10–14. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910480103. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Alexander F. E. Viruses, clusters and clustering of childhood leukaemia: a new perspective? Eur J Cancer. 1993;29A(10):1424–1443. doi: 10.1016/0959-8049(93)90016-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Anderson R. M., May R. M. Directly transmitted infections diseases: control by vaccination. Science. 1982 Feb 26;215(4536):1053–1060. doi: 10.1126/science.7063839. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Bithell J. F., Draper G. J. Apparent association between benzene and childhood leukaemia: methodological doubts concerning a report by Knox. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1995 Aug;49(4):437–439. doi: 10.1136/jech.49.4.437. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dockerty J. D., Becroft D. M., Lewis M. E., Williams S. M. The accuracy and completeness of childhood cancer registration in New Zealand. Cancer Causes Control. 1997 Nov;8(6):857–864. doi: 10.1023/a:1018412311997. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Dockerty J. D., Cox B., Cockburn M. G. Childhood leukaemias in New Zealand: time trends and ethnic differences. Br J Cancer. 1996 May;73(9):1141–1147. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1996.219. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Doll R., Evans H. J., Darby S. C. Paternal exposure not to blame. Nature. 1994 Feb 24;367(6465):678–680. doi: 10.1038/367678a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Fraumeni J. F., Jr, Miller R. W. Epidemiology of human leukemia: recent observations. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1967 Apr;38(4):593–605. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gilman E. A., Knox E. G. Childhood cancers: space-time distribution in Britain. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1995 Apr;49(2):158–163. doi: 10.1136/jech.49.2.158. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Glass A. G., Mantel N., Gunz F. W., Spears G. F. Time-space clustering of childhood leukemia in New Zealand. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1971 Aug;47(2):329–336. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Jacquez G. M. Cuzick and Edwards' test when exact locations are unknown. Am J Epidemiol. 1994 Jul 1;140(1):58–64. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a117159. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. KNOX G. EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CHILDHOOD LEUKAEMIA IN NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1964 Jan;18:17–24. doi: 10.1136/jech.18.1.17. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Knox E. G., Gilman E. A. Spatial clustering of childhood cancers in Great Britain. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1996 Jun;50(3):313–319. doi: 10.1136/jech.50.3.313. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Mantel N. The detection of disease clustering and a generalized regression approach. Cancer Res. 1967 Feb;27(2):209–220. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Muirhead C. R. Childhood leukemia in metropolitan regions in the United States: a possible relation to population density? Cancer Causes Control. 1995 Sep;6(5):383–388. doi: 10.1007/BF00052177. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Oden N., Jacquez G., Grimson R. Realistic power simulations compare point- and area-based disease cluster tests. 1996 Apr 15-May 15Stat Med. 15(7-9):783–806. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0258(19960415)15:7/9<783::aid-sim249>3.0.co;2-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Petridou E., Revinthi K., Alexander F. E., Haidas S., Koliouskas D., Kosmidis H., Piperopoulou F., Tzortzatou F., Trichopoulos D. Space-time clustering of childhood leukaemia in Greece: evidence supporting a viral aetiology. Br J Cancer. 1996 May;73(10):1278–1283. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1996.245. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Rothman K. J. A sobering start for the cluster busters' conference. Am J Epidemiol. 1990 Jul;132(1 Suppl):S6–13. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115790. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Wartenberg D., Greenberg M. Detecting disease clusters: the importance of statistical power. Am J Epidemiol. 1990 Jul;132(1 Suppl):S156–S166. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115778. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Wartenberg D., Greenberg M. Solving the cluster puzzle: clues to follow and pitfalls to avoid. Stat Med. 1993 Oct;12(19-20):1763–1770. doi: 10.1002/sim.4780121905. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES