Portraits of Alfred Deakin and his family

From left to right: Stella, Pattie, Ivy, Alfred, Vera.

Deakin family portrait

Pictured anti clockwise: Alfred Deakin, Ivy Deakin, Stella Deakin, Sarah Deakin (Alfred Deakin's mother), Vera Deakin, Pattie Deakin (Alfred Deakin's wife), Catherine Deakin (Alfred Deakin's sister)

Deakin family group at Point Lonsdale

From left to right: Alfred Deakin, Pattie Deakin (holding granddaughter Jessie Brookes), Miss Hodgson, Ivy Brookes (nee. Deakin); front row left to right: [hidden - possibly Aunt Kay], Wilfred Brookes, Sid Appleby.

Anne Scott Wilson : Insideout #2 exhibition

Solo Exhibition with catalogue essay by Elizabeth Day, video installation; inkjet prints; paintings

Birthweight and childhood cancer : preliminary findings from the International Childhood Cancer Cohort Consortium (I4C)

BACKGROUND: Evidence relating childhood cancer to high birthweight is derived primarily from registry and case-control studies. We aimed to investigate this association, exploring the potential modifying roles of age at diagnosis and maternal anthropometrics, using prospectively collected data from the International Childhood Cancer Cohort Consortium.

METHODS: We pooled data on infant and parental characteristics and cancer incidence from six geographically and temporally diverse member cohorts [the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (UK), the Collaborative Perinatal Project (USA), the Danish National Birth Cohort (Denmark), the Jerusalem Perinatal Study (Israel), the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (Norway), and the Tasmanian Infant Health Survey (Australia)]. Birthweight metrics included a continuous measure, deciles, and categories (≥4.0 vs. <4.0 kilogram). Childhood cancer (377 cases diagnosed prior to age 15 years) risk was analysed by type (all sites, leukaemia, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and non-leukaemia) and age at diagnosis. We estimated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) from Cox proportional hazards models stratified by cohort.

RESULTS: A linear relationship was noted for each kilogram increment in birthweight adjusted for gender and gestational age for all cancers [HR = 1.26; 95% CI 1.02, 1.54]. Similar trends were observed for leukaemia. There were no significant interactions with maternal pre-pregnancy overweight or pregnancy weight gain. Birthweight ≥4.0 kg was associated with non-leukaemia cancer among children diagnosed at age ≥3 years [HR = 1.62; 95% CI 1.06, 2.46], but not at younger ages [HR = 0.7; 95% CI 0.45, 1.24, P for difference = 0.02].

CONCLUSION: Childhood cancer incidence rises with increasing birthweight. In older children, cancers other than leukaemia are particularly related to high birthweight. Maternal adiposity, currently widespread, was not demonstrated to substantially modify these associations. Common factors underlying foetal growth and carcinogenesis need to be further explored.

Bust of Alfred Deakin

This replica was made by Peter J. Morley from an original, by Web Gilbert, held by Melbourne Grammar School. Similar busts are held in the Library of the Parliament of Victoria, Parliament House (Canberra) and the Avenue of Prime Ministers in Ballarat. The busts were originally commissioned in 1922 by Alfred Deakins daughter, Mrs. Ivy Brookes.