French Viticulture and Childhood Cancer Risk

Two of our CLIC investigators from the Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Inserm) in France, Drs. Stéphanie Goujon and Jacqueline Clavel, recently published two analyses of childhood cancer risk for children who live near vineyards. 

Viticulture is an important part of French culture and tradition, but there are also concerns about pesticide uses in vineyards in France and elsewhere. The researchers used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and data collected in a national population-based CLIC member study called GEOCAP to determine the effects of living near vineyards on developing leukemia and embryonal tumors. The results showed that the density of vines within 1000 meters of the address was associated with an increased risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and neuroblastoma, but not of acute myeloid leukemia nor other embryonal tumors (retinoblastoma, Wilms Tumor, and rhabdomyosarcoma).

GIS methods are powerful tools for the investigation of environmental exposures in childhood cancer on a large scale. CLIC studies collectively have large data on location of residence, which could be combined with exposure maps to vastly expand examination of environmental impacts on childhood cancer risk. Thus CLIC is seeking to unlock these data and apply GIS methods to our future analyses to discover more environmental risk factors for childhood cancer.

For more information on the GEOCAP study research, read the articles below. For more work from CLIC members, visit our research page clic.ngo/research.

Article 1 Title: Association between Residential Proximity to Viticultural Areas and Childhood Acute Leukemia Risk in Mainland France: GEOCAP Case-Control Study, 2006-2013

Authors: Mancini M, Hémon D, de Crouy-Chanel P, Guldner L, Faure L, Clavel J, Goujon S.

Published In: Environ Health Perspect. 2023 Oct;131(10):107008. doi: 10.1289/EHP12634. Epub 2023 Oct 18. PMID: 37850750; PMCID: PMC10583703.

Article 2 Title: Residential proximity to vines and risk of childhood embryonal tumours in France – GEOCAP case-control study, 2006-2013

Authors: Awounou D, Mancini M, Lacour B, de Crouy-Chanel P, Aerts I, Minard-Colin V, Schleiermacher G, Verschuur A, Guissou S, Desandes E, Guldner L, Clavel J, Goujon S.

Published In: Environ Res. 2024 Jan 1;240(Pt 2):117417. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117417. Epub 2023 Oct 20. PMID: 37865323.