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IVF babies 'are a third more likely to develop childhood cancer'

IVF babies are 65 per cent more likely to develop leukaemia They are nearly 90 per cent more likely to develop a form of brain cancer
By Nick Mcdermott PUBLISHED: 00:55 GMT, 5 October 2013 | UPDATED: 00:56 GMT, 5 October 2013

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Children born as a result of IVF are a third more likely to get cancer, a major study found. Scientists said those born after fertility treatments were 33 per cent more likely to have childhood cancer. They were 65 per cent more likely to develop leukaemia and 88 per cent more likely to develop cancers of the brain and central nervous system.

Children born as a result of IVF are more likely to develop childhood cancer

The study suggests fertility treatment may change the way certain genes function when they are passed from parent to child in a process known as genomic imprinting. These faults in genes are linked to childhood cancers, the Danish researchers said. They warned these changes could be triggered by aspects of fertility treatment such as exposure to hormones, semen preparation, freezing embryos, growth conditions of embryos or delayed insemination. But they could not rule out the chance that the increased risk was the result of parents infertility, not the treatment. Earlier this year, British research on more than 100,000 children born after fertility treatment found they had no increased risk of cancer. In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is among the most widely used fertility techniques, with around 18,000 IVF babies born in Britain each year.

The study suggests fertility treatment may change the way certain genes function when they are passed from parent to child in a process known as 'genomic imprinting'

An egg is removed from the womans ovaries and fertilised with sperm, then returned to the womb to grow. The research, in the journal Fertility and Sterility, reviewed 25 studies from 12 developed countries, including the US, the UK, Denmark, France and Israel, from 1990 to 2010.

THREE-PARENT CHILDREN 'ILLEGAL'

Plans for Britain to become the first country to create babies using DNA from three parents were condemned by MPs last night. The treatment can reduce the risk of children having potentially fatal illnesses. Damaged DNA from a mother at risk of passing on a mitochondrial disease such as muscular dystrophy is substituted with some from a healthy female donor. The technique was recommended to Government by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority this year after a consultation. The eight MPs were among 34 members of the Council of Europe, the human rights group made up of European politicians, who called it incompatible with human dignity and international law.

The results of the largest meta-analysis on this topic to date indicate an association between fertility treatment and cancer in offspring, wrote author Dr Marie Hargreave, of the Danish Cancer Society research centre, Copenhagen. The etiology [origin] of childhood cancer is still largely unknown, but it has been hypothesized that fertility treatment may play a role. One theory is that anti-oestrogen drugs that stimulate ovulation are similar to diethylstilbestrol, a drug once given to pregnant women to stop complications, but later linked to childhood cancer. The researchers stressed that the risk of cancer among children born after fertility treatment remains low. They wrote: Infertile couples may already have an increased number of epigenetic defects ... which come to light through the treatment process. Most children in the studies were born after IVF but some couples used other techniques such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection or intrauterine insemination. Dr Allan Pacey, the chairman of the British Fertility Society, said: Although this paper reports an apparent increase in the incidence in childhood cancer, the association is small and it is still not possible to say whether it is a consequence of IVF or the underlying infertility of the parents. Cancer is the second biggest cause of death of children in developed countries. Around 1,600 children are diagnosed each year in Britain. A spokesman for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said: A recent UK study found there to be no increased risk of cancer to children as a result of assisted reproduction treatment. Geeta Nargund is medical director at Create Health Clinics, which promotes mild IVF, with fewer fertility jabs and lower dosages. She said: This is an interesting study which raises concerns about potential long-term effects of fertility treatment on children.

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Comments (41)
Share what you think Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all Report comment Blahblah, Blah, 1 hour ago This article does 't stipulate which type of IVF is linked. There are different methods. ICSI for example. Also strange is that the people who have the strongest opinions on IVF seem to know the least about it.

7 47 Click to rate Report comment Lightning, Valhalla - UK, 1 hour ago Yep, more anti-IVF scaremongering. DM, why don't you just come right out and say you despise the infertile?

18 95 Click to rate Report comment Pappa wiseman, Nottingham, United Kingdom, 2 hours ago This is something that is pure speculation and theory. As for those who think you should not have children unless your meant to, all I will say is shut up!

19 83 Click to rate Report comment louisem, Warrington, 2 hours ago Do you get a special sort of satisfaction by terrifying parents and their children that have already been through so much with your poorly researched medical pieces presented as science?

16 156 Click to rate Report comment SW, UK, 2 hours ago This is a cruel and horrible article DM. Shame on you.

21 117 Click to rate Report comment zipdip, Harwich, United Kingdom, 2 hours ago That is a very high percentage found by the danes,I see that we did a test and found no increase,I am sure that they will look at and test each others results,all the same it must be a worry for couples who need/want IVF, I am not against it but everybody doctors and people wanting it have to be careful ,it is still even after all these years a new science,I hope the danes findings are wrong,I would hate to think that children conceived this way had those odds of getting a serious illness,I must say that the 3 person DNA treatment alarms me I think the council are right to stop it.

23 16 Click to rate Report comment Susan, Bedfordshire, 2 hours ago Wow, well done for terrifying thousands of parents DM.

11 92 Click to rate

Report comment Christine, Reading, 2 hours ago To the insensitive moron who suggested that people should be childless: I wish upon you the agony of 12 miscarriages. You have no idea what it's like to have your body reject yet another desperately longed fir child. You have no idea what it's like to have people comment "no children eh? Too bothered about your nice house and foreign holidays?" when you would happily live in squalor if it meant having that one child. IVF wouldn't have worked for me, but in the end God decided that I'd suffered enough and let me have that one miracle. But I'd never suggest to anyone that they shouldn't be allowed to follow their dream. Especially in this day and age when you're disqualified from adopting if you don't live near your extended family.

18 138 Click to rate Report comment Gothmog, Alberstoke,Hampshire, 2 hours ago Some of the previous comments display a degree of ignorance and intolerance beyond belief. To say if you can't conceive naturally it was just not meant to be is disgusting and the author of that post should hang their head in shame. I suspect if we looked at the relative risk here the association is weak.

13 63 Click to rate Report comment Peppa737, Cardiff, 2 hours ago DM scaremongering again, and being anti Ivf. walk a mile in an Infertile persons shoes.... Yes its unnatural but so is modern medicine.

7 59 Click to rate The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

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