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Radiation to pelvis harmful in pregnancy--study
by Sophie Anderson - July 25, 2010 - comments
A new study funded by the Westlakes Research Institute, the National Cancer Institute, and the Children's Cancer Research Fund has established that for women, radiotherapy that affects the womb or ovaries before puberty can have severe consequences during pregnancies in later life.
Findings of a new study suggest that women who undergo radiotherapy for cancer treatment during childhood have an elevated risk of suffering a stillbirth or neonatal death.
The study conducted by researchers from Vanderbilt University brings to fore the unintended long-term adverse repercussions of cancer treatment on reproduction.
Radiation to the pelvis harmful
For the purpose of the study, researchers analyzed 4,946 pregnancies from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study wherein a parent had survived childhood cancer.
All the participants of the study were less than 21 years of age when they were initially diagnosed with cancer.
The analysis revealed that high doses of radiation to the pelvis were responsible for the enhanced risk in pregnancy. Furthermore, the link appeared only in those patients who had received radiation treatment before puberty.
Of the total participants, only 28 women had been given high doses of radiation to their pelvis. Five such women reported stillbirths or early death.
The analysis revealed that high doses of radiation to the pelvis were responsible for the enhanced risk in pregnancy. Furthermore, the link appeared only in those patients who had received radiation treatment before puberty.
"We could not directly assess whether uterine damage (e.g., to the musculature, vasculature, or endometrium) or oocyte damage was the cause of the association with stillbirth or neonatal death, although we believe a uterine effect was most likely," Lisa Signorello of the International Epidemiology Institute in Rockville and lead author of the study said.
The study revealed that one out of the 100 women who did not have radiotherapy at all to their womb or ovaries had a baby who died soon after birth.
The risk rose to two in 100 with a low dose of radiation before puberty and increased further to 13 in 100 with higher doses of radiation.
Chemotherapy drugs proved to be safe and appeared not to have a detrimental effect on pregnancies later in life.
"Careful management is warranted for pregnant women treated with high doses of pelvic irradiation before they have reached puberty," suggested the researchers.
Not true for men
The study also established that cancer radiation therapy does not damage the testes in men. As such, there is no increased risk of an unfavorable effect among the offspring of men treated for childhood cancer.
The researchers said that this revelation is “reassuring not only for male survivors of childhood cancer but also for men exposed to ionizing radiation in occupational or other settings."
Jessica Harris, of Cancer Research UK, hailed the study and said, "Studies like these are essential for us to understand the long-term effects of being treated for cancer."