Prediction of childhood cancer using APGAR score: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The etiology of childhood cancer remains unclear, although current research suggests that the uterine environment has a significant impact. The objective of this review is to investigate the 5-minutes and 1-minute APGAR scores as a predictor risk factor for cancer development among the pediatric population. Methodology: We performed a systematic literature search on four major databases, PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and EBSCO to indude relevant and eligible studies in this review. The authors used Review Manager 5.4 to conduct a quantitative data synthesis for the condition of interest analyses. Results: Thirteen eligible studies and 19517 patients with childhood cancer were included as the population of this study. The low 1-minute and 5-minutes APGAR score (<7) were regarded as significant factors for risk for development of childhood cancer [OR: 1.23, 95% CI (1.1, 1.35), P= 0.000] and [OR: 1.29, 95% CI (1.02, 1.57), P= 0.000], respectively. Conclusion: We conclude that low 1-minute and 5-minutes APGAR scores are momentous risk influences for childhood cancer development. We further conclude that the low 1-minute APGAR score potentiated a grander hazard for developing hepatoblastoma and neuroblastoma among the pediatric population. The 5-minutes APGAR score was also a probable risk factor for hepatoblastoma development among children but a protective factor for childhood embryonal tumors development.