No Higher Birth-Defect Risk for Young Survivors of Cancer

Survivors of childhood cancer aren’t any more likely to have children with birth defects. Medical studies suspected that before; now they’re getting strong backup from a bigger, more focused analysis by a Vanderbilt researcher.

Treating cancer with radiation and chemotherapy can damage patients’ DNA. Some children who survive cancer around the pelvis grow up to face problems with infertility.

But those who do have kids are no more likely to face birth defects than average, says Lisa Signorello. The Vanderbilt professor looked back over data from thousands of children who beat cancer a generation ago.

“Moreover, when we looked at let’s say a group of girls that had ovarian radiation, it didn’t really matter how high that radiation got.”

Signorello says that’s not what you’d see if such treatment were linked to birth defects.

But she also notes such offspring could have other genetic damage that becomes visible later on, and more research is needed there. She says the stakes are growing ever higher, because more and more children who face cancer survive.