2024-05-03 07:22:00
This study, carried out by researchers from Inserm in particular, covered more than 8.5 million children born in France between 2010 and 2021. It shows that children born under assisted reproduction do not develop more cancer than others, except for leukemia in which “a slight increase in risk was seen”.
Children born after medically assisted procreation (ART) do not develop more cancer than other children, except in the case of leukemia when a very small risk was observed, emphasized a major study on Friday 3 May.
This study, which covers more than 8.5 million children born in France between 2010 and 2021, is one of the largest to date on the subject.
Scientists from Inserm and the scientific interest group EPI-PHARE (ANSM/Cnam), together with experts in medically assisted procreation (PMA), have published their results. in JAMA Open Network.
No more risk in children from assisted reproduction
The idea was to compare the cancer risk of children who underwent assisted reproduction with the risk of naturally conceived children.
“PMA techniques are relatively recent and many studies have shown quite heterogeneous results so far, it was necessary to supplement the existing information,” Rosemary Dray Spira, epidemiologist and deputy director at EPI-PHARE, told AFP.
The scientists used data from the National Health Data System. Among the cohort that followed, up to a median age of 6.7 years, 260,236 children (3%) were born at AMP. During this follow-up, 9,256 children including 292 children conceived through AMP developed cancer.
The risk of cancer, all types combined, was not higher in these children than in those conceived naturally, the study notes.
“Slightly increased risk” in children conceived through IVF
However, a “slight increase in the risk of leukemia” was observed in children conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF).
“Out of 20,000 children between the ages of 0 and 10, about 10 will suffer from leukemia in the general population; according to our estimate, for children born with IVF, it will be between 13 and 14, so the additional risk very rare, ” stressed Rosemary Dray Spira.
For comparison, the risk of infant mortality is higher for each child: 74 deaths are recorded for 20,000 births.
At the moment, scientists are unable to explain whether the small increase observed “is linked to the ART techniques themselves, to the infertility factors of the parents or to the combination of both”, recognized Patricia Fauque, head of the Dijon Center AMP.
The mechanisms underlying this increase need further research, the researchers acknowledged.
“Our concern is to understand better and better the determinants of the occurrence of these cancers,” said Jacqueline Clavel, Inserm’s research director.
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