Children Conceived After Fertility Treatments May Be at Increased Risk for Pediatric Cancers
Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have found that babies born to mothers who underwent fertility treatments may be at increased risk of developing types of pediatric malignancies and neoplasms. The study, published by Wainstock et al in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, was a population-based cohort analysis of babies born between 1991 and 2013 at Soroka University Medical Center in Beer-Sheva, Israel, with follow-up to age 18.
According to the American Cancer Society, the most common pediatric neoplasms are leukemia, brain and spinal cord tumors, neuroblastomas, Wilms tumors, and lymphoma, including both Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin.
“In Israel, all fertility interventions, which include in vitro fertilization and ovulation induction, are fully covered by insurance, enabling citizens of all backgrounds access to these treatments,” said Eyal Sheiner, MD, PhD, Vice Dean of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Faculty of Health Sciences, member of its Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and a physician at Soroka.
Findings
Of the 242,187 newborn infants in the study, 237,863 (98.3%) were conceived spontaneously; 2,603 (1.1%) were conceived after in vitro fertilization, and 1,721 (0.7%) were conceived after ovulation induction treatments.
During the follow-up period of approximately 10.6 years, 1,498 neoplasms (0.6%) were diagnosed. The incidence rate for neoplasms was highest among children after in vitro fertilization (1.5 of 1,000) and ovulation induction (1.0 of 1,000) as compared to that of naturally conceived children (0.59 of 1,000).
“The research concludes that the association between in vitro fertilization and total pediatric neoplasms and malignancies is significant,” Dr. Sheiner said. “With increasing numbers of offspring conceived after fertility treatments, it is important to follow up on their health.”
The content in this post has not been reviewed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and does not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of ASCO®.
