Adverse Childhood Experiences and the Presence of Cancer Risk Factors in Adulthood: A Scoping Review of the Literature From 2005 to 2015.

The studies measured childhood adversity and cancer risk factors in many different ways, so the review could not combine them into one clear estimate. The review did not assess the methodological quality of the included studies. It included only US peer-reviewed studies from 2005 to 2015 and excluded grey literature, so relevant evidence may be missing. The search terms may have missed important links, such as cortisol and other hormones. Many studies had restricted samples, and women-specific studies were more common, so results may not apply to all groups. The review looked only at cancer risk factors present in adulthood, although some risk factors begin before age 18.

Do not conclude that childhood adversity causes adult cancer risk or that ACE screening will reduce cancer risk. This review maps associations from heterogeneous observational studies, did not assess study quality and did not test any intervention.