Associations between Vaccination and Childhood Cancers in Texas Regions

ObjectivesTo determine whether children born in Texas regions with higher vaccination coverage had reduced risk of childhood cancer.Study designThe Texas Cancer Registry identified 2800 cases diagnosed from 1995 to 2006 who were (1) born in Texas and (2) diagnosed at ages 2 to 17 years. The state birth certificate data were used to identify 11 200 age- and sex-matched control subjects. A multilevel mixed-effects regression model compared vaccination rates among cases and control subjects at the public health region and county level.ResultsChildren born in counties with higher hepatitis B vaccine coverage had lower odds of all cancers combined (OR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.67 to 0.98) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) specifically (OR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.46 to 0.88). A decreased odds for ALL also was associated at the county level with higher rates of the inactivated poliovirus vaccine (OR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.49 to 0.92) and 4-3-1-3-3 vaccination series (OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.44 to 0.87). Children born in public health regions with higher coverage levels of the Haemophilus influenzae type b-conjugate vaccine had lower odds of ALL (OR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.42 to 0.82).ConclusionsSome common childhood vaccines appear to be protective against ALL at the population level.