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Children who were conceived with in vitro fertilization have the same overall chance of developing childhood cancers as those conceived naturally, scientists reported Wednesday.
"It's a reassuring finding," says pediatrician Alastair Sutcliffe of University College London, who led the study. "It's a bellwether to the future health of these kids as they grow up."
There's always been a question about whether IVF could have a negative impact on a child's long-term health, Sutcliffe says. "Embryos and eggs don't usually see the light of day, but these do, literally."
Answering that question has been a lengthy process.
The study, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the largest of its kind. And it did uncover a very small rise in risk for two rare cancers. But for more common cancers such as leukemia, the fertility treatment had no effect.
"The main message about cancer is good news," Sutcliffe tells Shots. "I don't want to overextend the findings of the study. But if a population has something going wrong, you'd think that cancers would start showing up."
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"It's a reassuring finding," says pediatrician Alastair Sutcliffe of University College London, who led the study. "It's a bellwether to the future health of these kids as they grow up."
There's always been a question about whether IVF could have a negative impact on a child's long-term health, Sutcliffe says. "Embryos and eggs don't usually see the light of day, but these do, literally."
Answering that question has been a lengthy process.
The study, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the largest of its kind. And it did uncover a very small rise in risk for two rare cancers. But for more common cancers such as leukemia, the fertility treatment had no effect.
"The main message about cancer is good news," Sutcliffe tells Shots. "I don't want to overextend the findings of the study. But if a population has something going wrong, you'd think that cancers would start showing up."
More...