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Some major birth defects increased cancer risk in children
Children born with non-chromosomal defects have an increased risk of developing cancer before age 15 years, according to recent study findings published in PLOS One.
“While there is an increased risk for cancer in young people with certain types of birth defects compared to children without birth defects, the overall cancer risk for a child with a birth defect is still relatively low, so it is important for health care providers to be careful not to produce unnecessary concern among parents and families,” Lorenzo Botto, MD, of the University of Utah School of Medicine, said in a press release. “In addition, we found that the incidence of cancer was highest in the first 3 to 5 years of life, so clinical surveillance can be focused by age, as well as by birth defect.”
Lorenzo Botto
The retrospective, statewide, population-based cohort study included 44,151 children aged 0 to 14 years with selected major, non-chromosomal birth defects of chromosomal anomalies compared with a cohort of 147,940 children without birth defects.
The researchers found that children with birth defects had a 2.9-fold (95% CI, 2.3-3.7) increased risk for cancer compared with the group without birth defects. Children with microcephaly, cleft palate and selected eye, cardiac and renal defects were at the most increased risk; however, children with cleft lip with or without cleft palate, hypospadias or hydrocephalus did not increase cancer risk.
“It’s reassuring that many of the common major birth defects are not associated with any increase in cancer risk,” Botto said. “Our study helps to identify who is, and who is not, at increased risk for cancer, and this information can be used to focus future research on potential genetic or environmental factors that contribute to cancer risk.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
