Cancer Risk Minimal for Children Born After Medically Assisted Reproduction New Study Says
- “America’s Got Talent” star Madilyn Bailey, 31, enjoys parenthood alongside her husband to their adorable baby girl. Before her baby was born, she faced fertility challenges after an endometriosis diagnosis, which impacts fertility. She became pregnant with the help of in vitro fertilization (IVF).
- A study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open followed more than 8.5 million children born through medically assisted means like IVF between 2010 and 2021 to assess their cancer risk compared to babies conceived naturally.
- The study concluded the “overall risk of cancer did not differ between children conceived naturally.” However, among the limited number of cancer cases diagnosed, the children had an “increased risk” of leukemia, a type of blood cancer.
- Leukemia impacts the normal function of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, which can interfere with vital oxygen being transported throughout the body to tissues. It can also disrupt the functioning of white blood cells, which are necessary to fight infections, and platelets, which help form blood clots.
“America’s Got Talent” star Madilyn Bailey, 31, enjoys motherhood to her beautiful daughter. It’s a life blessing she doesn’t take for granted, given she was diagnosed with endometriosis, which is a condition where the tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus. A side effect of endometriosis is possible infertility.
Bailey turned to in vitro fertilization (IVF), a procedure in which a woman’s egg is fertilized with sperm in a lab, and then the embryo is transferred to a woman’s uterus to develop.
Read MoreView this post on InstagramAlthough endometriosis is not a cancerous condition, cancer does pose fertility risks because certain cancer treatments can hinder both men’s and women’s ability to procreate. Again, IVF offers hopeful parents an option.
However, for children born through medically assisted reproduction, does their cancer risk differ compared to children conceived naturally? Researchers of the Epidemiology of Childhood and Adolescent Cancer team sought to answer this question. They published the results of their study in the medical journal JAMA Network Open.
The French study examined 8.5 million children born between January 2010 to December 2021. Children born with assisted reproduction technologies (ART) include fresh embryo transfer (ET), frozen embryo transfer (FET), and artificial insemination (AI).
During the study, “9,256 children with cancer were identified over a median follow-up of 6.7 years.”
The researchers surmised the “overall risk of cancer did not differ between children conceived naturally and those born after fresh ET, FET or AI.”
Amid the research, the researchers managed to find a notable observation related to certain blood cancers.
“The risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia was higher among children born after frozen embryo transfer compared with children conceived naturally,” the researchers said.
The researchers concluded that children born after frozen embryo transfer, fresh embryo transfer, and artificial insemination had an “increased risk of leukemia compared with children conceived naturally,” thus requiring added monitoring.
Resources on Fertility and Cancer
Why IVF Has Spared Many Cancer Patient’s Dreams of Having a Family
Fertility struggles are also a genuine concern among cancer patients, as certain cancer treatments can cause infertility. Fortunately, in many cases, efforts can be made before beginning treatment to help preserve fertility.
Many couples, at one point or another, experience infertility. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says within the U.S., “about one in five” married women between the ages of 15 to 49 with no prior births are unable to get pregnant after trying for a year. Additionally, “one in four” of women in this group struggle to get pregnant or carry the pregnancy to term.
WATCH: How does chemotherapy affect fertility?
Infertility may affect many cancer patients undergoing treatment due to cancer treatment’s impacts on the body. Various cancer treatments, including chemotherapy and radiation, can affect both men’s and women’s fertility. Before undergoing cancer treatment, patients should speak to their doctors about fertility preservation if they wish to have a family in the future.
The American Psychological Association said in its Monitor on Psychology Magazine, “A diagnosis of infertility–the inability to get pregnant after a year or more of trying–can lead to depression, anxiety, and other psychological problems, trigger feelings of shame and failure to live up to traditional gender expectations and strain relationships, say psychologists specializing in infertility.”
Among men, infertility can “cut into a man’s feelings of masculinity” and “can lead to issues of shame and embarrassment.” psychologist William D. Petok said to Monitor on Psychology Magazine.
Cancer’s Impact on Male Fertility
Cancer treatments like chemotherapy can damage sperm in men, and hormone therapy can decrease sperm production, according to the National Cancer Institute. Radiation treatment can also lead to lower sperm count and testosterone levels, impacting fertility.
Possible side effects of cancer treatment should be discussed with your doctor before starting treatment. Men may have the option to store their sperm in a sperm bank before treatment to preserve their fertility.
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This sperm can then be used later as part of in vitro fertilization (IVF), a procedure in which a woman’s egg is fertilized with sperm in a lab. The embryo is then transferred to a woman’s uterus to develop.
WATCH: Dr. Terri Woodard explains fertility preservation options patients have when going through cancer treatment.
Cancer Treatment’s Impact on Fertility in Women
Just as cancer treatment can impact men’s fertility, women may also be affected. Some types of chemotherapy can destroy eggs in your ovaries. This can make it impossible or difficult to get pregnant later. Whether or not chemotherapy makes you infertile depends on the type of drug and your age since your egg supply decreases with age.
“The risk is greater the older you are,” reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Jaime Knopman told SurvivorNet.
“If you’re 39 and you get chemo that’s toxic to the ovaries, it’s most likely to make you menopausal. But, if you’re 29, your ovaries may recover because they have a higher baseline supply,” Dr. Knopman continued.
Radiation to the pelvis can also destroy eggs. It can damage the uterus, too. Surgery to your ovaries or uterus can hurt fertility as well.
Meanwhile, endocrine or hormone therapy may block or suppress essential fertility hormones and may prevent a woman from getting pregnant. This infertility may be temporary or permanent, depending on the type and length of treatment.
If you are having a treatment that includes infertility as a possible side effect, your doctor won’t be able to tell you for sure whether you will have this side effect. That’s why you should discuss your options for fertility preservation before starting treatment.
Research shows that women who have fertility preserved before breast cancer treatment are more than twice as likely to give birth after treatment than those who don’t take fertility-preserving measures.
Most women who preserve their fertility before cancer treatment do so by freezing their eggs or embryos.
After you finish your cancer treatment, a doctor who specializes in reproductive medicine can implant one or more embryos in your uterus or the uterus of a surrogate with the hope that it will result in pregnancy.
If you freeze eggs only before treatment, a fertility specialist can use sperm and your eggs to create embryos in vitro and transfer them to your uterus.
When freezing eggs or embryos is not an option, doctors may try these approaches:
- Ovarian tissue freezing is an experimental approach for girls who haven’t yet reached puberty and don’t have mature eggs or for women who must begin treatment right away and don’t have time to harvest eggs.
- Ovarian suppression prevents the eggs from maturing so they cannot be damaged during treatment.
- Ovarian transposition, for women getting radiation to the pelvis, moves the ovaries out of the line of treatment.
In addition to preserving eggs or embryos, positive research has shown that women with early-stage hormone-receptor (HR) positive breast cancer were able to safely pause endocrine therapy (ET) to try to get pregnant, and they did not have worse short-term recurrence rates than people who did not stop endocrine treatment.
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