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Published on: May 17, 2024
601
Medically Assisted Reproduction and Risk of Cancer Among Offspring.
Paula Rios1,2, Philippe Herlemont1, Patricia Fauque3
1EPI-PHARE Scientific Interest Group in Epidemiology of Health Products, French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety, French National Health Insurance, Saint-Denis, France.
JAMA Network Open
|May 2, 2024
Summary
Children born after assisted reproduction technologies like frozen embryo transfer (FET) or fresh embryo transfer (ET) showed an increased risk of leukemia. This finding highlights the need for continued monitoring of assisted reproduction technologies (ART) use.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric oncology
- Reproductive medicine
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Childhood cancer is a global health concern.
- Medically assisted reproduction (MAR) treatments are potential risk factors for childhood cancer due to epigenetic effects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the cancer risk in children conceived via MAR compared to natural conception.
- To analyze cancer risk by specific types and MAR methods.
Main Methods:
- A French national cohort study (EPI-MERES) analyzed live births from 2010-2021.
- Cox proportional hazards models compared cancer risk between MAR-conceived and naturally conceived children.
- Adjustments were made for maternal and child characteristics.
Main Results:
- No overall cancer risk difference was found between MAR and naturally conceived children.
- Children born after frozen embryo transfer (FET) had a higher risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
- Children born after fresh embryo transfer (ET) showed an increased risk of leukemia for births between 2010-2015.
Conclusions:
- Children born after FET or fresh ET may have an elevated risk of leukemia.
- While the absolute number of cases is small, the increasing use of assisted reproduction technologies (ART) warrants ongoing surveillance.
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