Babies born to mothers who underwent fertility treatments are three times more likely to develop a range of paediatric cancers and tumours, according to researchers at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU).
The research, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, tracked over 200,000 babies born between 1991-2014 in Israel’s Soroka hospital and monitored the group until the age of 18.
During the surveillance period of approximately 10.6 years, 1,498 cancerous growths were diagnosed.
The highest rate of tumours was found among children born from in vitro fertilisations, somewhat lower for ovulation induction births but both were more common than that of spontaneously-conceived children.
Additionally, the link continued to ring true after adjusting for other health factors such as premature birth and low birth weight.
The study recommends follow-up health checks for IVF babies.
The study recommends follow-up health checks on children born through fertility treatments.
“The research concludes that the association between IVF and total pediatric neoplasms and malignancies is significant,” says Prof. Eyal Sheiner, vice dean of the BGU Faculty of Health Sciences (FOHS). “With increasing numbers of offspring conceived after fertility treatments, it is important to follow up on their health.”
Of the 242,187 infants studied, 237,863 (98.3 percent) were conceived spontaneously; 2,603 (1.1 percent) were conceived via in vitro fertilisations, and 1,721 (0.7 percent) were conceived after ovulation induction treatments.
While the study isn’t the first to investigate IVF and paediatric cancer risk, it is the first to monitor the group into adulthood.
