Blood Cancer Risk In Babies Due To IVF Should Not Be A Cause For Alarm

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IVF or in vitro fertilization is defined by the Mayo Clinic as a complex series of procedures that treat fertility or genetic problems in order to achieve conception. It involves extracting mature eggs from a mother's ovaries and fertilizing it with sperm in a lab, before implanting the embryo back in the mother's uterus.

IVF is commonly used as primary treatment for infertility among women over the age of 40. However, some women opt for IVF if they are experiencing reproductive health issues such as Fallopian tube damage or blockage, ovulation disorders, etc.

A new study published in the journal Pediatrics reveal how IVF may slightly increase a child's risk for developing blood cancer, Healthday reports. Researchers found that children who were conceived and born through IVF were 67% more at risk of leukemia and three times more at risk for Hodgkin's lymphoma compared to their counterparts who were conceived naturally.

Researchers led by Dr. Marte Myhre Reigstad of the Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Women's Health at Oslo University Hospital analyzed data on 1.6 million children born in Norway from 1984 to 2011. Among these children, about 25,800 were conceived through various assisted reproductive technology procedures such as IVF, WebMD reports.

Results showed no significant increase in the overall risk for cancer among children who were conceived via IVF besides leukemia and Hodgkin's lymphoma, which are cancers that attack blood cells. According to U.S. News & World Report, researchers claim that the results should not concern parents who are looking to conceive via IVF, as only 17 cases of leukemia and three cases of Hodgkin's lymphoma were reported among children who were conceived via IVF.

Susan Amirian, an assistant professor with the Baylor College of Medicine's Duncan Cancer Center in Houston, wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal, citing that the results were "borderline statistically significant."

"We need to be extra cautious interpreting that number, and we need a lot more studies that confirm that association before we can say there's a true relationship there," Amirian said.

"In Norway, the risk of being diagnosed with leukemia within the first 10 years of life is 0.5 in 1,000," Reigstad further explained. "A risk increase of such magnitude as found in our study would amount to a risk of 0.8 in 1,000. So for children conceived by assisted reproductive technology, there is still only a very small chance of developing cancer."

According to Amirian's editorial co-author Melissa Bondy of Baylor's Duncan Cancer Center, IVF kids may be at higher risk for some cancers because their mothers conceive later in life, which previous studies have already shown to increase risk for childhood cancers. Bondy recommends further studies to explain the reasons behind this link.