Assisted reproductive technology linked to increased risk for childhood cancers
Conception via assisted reproductive technology appeared associated with increased risk for childhood cancers compared with natural conception or subfertility and nonassisted reproductive technology conception methods, study results showed.
Preterm birth or low birth weight could not explain the increased cancer risk, according to the findings, published in JAMA Network Open.
Methods
The number of children conceived via assisted reproductive technology continues to increase globally, and these children may have higher risks for genetic alterations and adverse perinatal outcomes that may be associated with childhood cancers, according to Shiue-Shan Weng, PhD, researcher at the Institute of Public Health at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, and colleagues wrote.
For this reason, investigators sought to determine the association between three different modes of conception — natural conception, subfertility and nonassisted reproductive technology, or assisted reproductive technology — and childhood cancers. They also assessed the potential association between increased cancer risk and preterm birth and low birth weight.
The nationwide, population-based cohort study included data from 2,308,016 parent-child triads (mean paternal age, 33.28 years; mean maternal age, 30.83 years) in Taiwan between 2004 and 2017. Median follow-up was 6 years.
Findings
Researchers identified 1,880 children with incident cancer.
Results showed an association of assisted reproductive technology conception with an increased risk for any childhood cancer type compared with natural conception methods (HR = 1.58; 95% CI, 1.17-2.12) and subfertility with nonassisted reproductive technology conception (HR = 1.42; 95% CI, 1.04-1.95).
Common cancer types associated with assisted reproductive technology conception included leukemia (HR = 2.1; 95% CI, 1.2-3.7) and hepatic tumor (HR = 2.71; 95% CI, 1.28-5.73), according to the researchers.
Overall, 8.16% of children were born preterm and 7.38% had low birth weight. Of note, researchers found that these factors did not facilitate the increased cancer risk associated with assisted reproductive technology conception.
Moreover, children conceived through assisted reproductive technology appeared more likely to have older and primiparous parents who resided in more urbanized areas and had higher household incomes.
Researchers reported limitations of the study, including the use of data from the entire population of Taiwan. Moreover, a lower incidence rate of childhood cancers resulted in a limited amount of cases for various types of childhood cancers and, consequently, a failure to accurately analyze them.
Implications
The study is the latest in a long line of reports demonstrating an association between the use of fertility treatment and the risk for childhood cancer, strengthening the mounting evidence of the role of fertility treatment in childhood cancer development, according to an accompanying editorial by Marie Hargreave, PhD, researcher at Danish Cancer Society Research Center in Denmark.
“However, whether the increased risk is associated with specific assisted reproductive technology procedures, certain fertility drugs, or the underlying infertility of the parents remains to be investigated and will be important for furthering the understanding and possible prevention of cancer in children,” Hargreave wrote.
References :
- Hargreave M. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.30162.
- Weng SS, et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;doi:10.1001/jamanetowrkopen.2022.30157.
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