Maternal diabetes and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in the offspring

Maternal diabetes may be linked to childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in the offspring. We assessed the association between maternal pregestational or gestational diabetes and offspring risk of childhood ALL in a register-based study, including all singletons born in Denmark during 1996–2015 (n=1 187 482). Adjusted hazard ratios of childhood ALL were 2.91 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.30–6.51) for maternal pregestational diabetes and 1.75 (95% CI: 1.02–2.98) for maternal gestational diabetes. Paternal diabetes did not alter offspring ALL risk, and we found no association between offspring ALL and later maternal risk of diabetes. Regardless that absolute ALL risk among offspring of women with diabetes remains low, our findings suggest that characteristics of the diabetic intrauterine environment promote ALL development. This offers a setting for future research into the biological mechanisms underlying childhood ALL.