IVF Babies Have No Greater Risk of Cancer
11/12/2013 06:28:00 AM
IVF Babies Have No Greater Risk of Cancer
by Steve Williams November 11, 2013 4:00 am
by Steve Williams November 11, 2013 4:00 am
Children conceived through
fertility treatment are on the whole at no greater risk of developing childhood
cancers, a new and largest of its kind study has found.
The study, conducted by the
impartial Cancer Research UK, saw researchers examine the medical records of
some 106,013 children up to the age of 15 who were born in the UK between 1992
and 2008. All those children were conceived through in-vitro fertilization
(IVF). Their records were then checked against medical reports from the
National Registry of Childhood Tumours to give comparable data for those age
ranges.
For a sample of this size, the
researchers expected that around 110 children would develop a childhood cancer,
the most common types being leukaemia, neuroblastoma, or retinoblastoma,
among others. In fact, only 108 children in the IVF sample developed a cancer,
slightly lower than the prediction but of course not of any real statistical
significance.
Previous studies had
shown a possible link between IVF and an increased risk of childhood
cancers, though those studies involved much smaller sample sizes and, even in
those cases, the risks were not attributed to the IVF techniques themselves but
other factors like underlying genetic problems that could be traced back to the
parents. As such, this latest study helps clarify that IVF techniques appear
safe.
The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine,
provides one of the first and only large scale population-based research papers
into assisted conception and cancer risk, delivering important reassurances to
those parents who cannot conceive without help.
Interestingly, there was a
slight increase in some very rare forms of cancer: hepatic tumors and bone
tumors. The researchers could not attribute this to IVF treatment itself and,
in the case of what are known as hepatoblastoma, the increase was
associated with low birth weight that is sometimes found among IVF children. In
both cases the slight “absolute risk” increase was of very little practical
consequence.
It is estimated that around five
million children throughout the world are born as a result of IVF. The (natural
cycle) IVF technique has been in successful use since 1978, with UK
resident Louise Brown being the first so-called “test tube baby.”
Ever since those first births, there
has been speculation, usually by those opposed to IVF on religious grounds
or sensationalist media outlets, that this and other forms of
assisted conception carry health risks for the children involved because of the
various degrees of manipulation needed to ensure conception is successful.
There is of course also a genuine medical interest in ensuring that the
procedure is safe and doesn’t produce unintended health problems.
In reality, no research has ever
been able to find a concrete link between the IVF process and most childhood
health problems. In cases where IVF children appear more prone to certain,
usually rare, conditions, a link can usually be made to the same genetic
problems that led to the child’s parents having trouble conceiving.
Some research has suggested that
genetic expression may slightly differ during IVF as opposed to normal
conception and that this in turn might in a small number of cases produce an
increased risk of certain genetic disorders and birth defects — but again, this
research is by no means conclusive and the topic is undergoing further study.
Researchers not directly
involved with this latest study have greeted the results as reassuring to those
seeking IVF, with Dr. Lawrence Grunfeld, of the Mount Sinai Icahn School
of Medicine in New York City, quoted as saying, “This study is extremely
reassuring and should relieve anybody’s anxiety about IVF.”
Good to know this news, Useful info. Hope to see more good posts in the future.
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