Epidemiology and etiology of leukemia

Abstract

In recent years, epidemiology has made little progress in elucidating the etiology of leukemia. Risk factors such as exposure to high-dose radiation, occupational exposure to benzene, and prior chemotherapy for other cancers have been fairly well established, but together these factors probably account for only a small proportion of leukemia incidence. The apparent lack of progress in determining risk factors for leukemia may be attributed to problems with earlier studies, such as small sample sizes, and an inability to identify homogeneous subgroups of leukemia patients (Sandler and Collman, Am J Epidemiol 1987, 126:1017-1032). Several reports addressing these deficiencies have recently appeared, and other studies are currently underway.