Radiation cure women more likely to lose baby

Women cancer survivors who had radiation treatment as children are far more likely to lose a baby, research has shown.

Scientists found radiotherapy to the pelvic region during childhood increased a mother's risk of stillbirth or infant death up to 12 times. Exposure to radiation was thought to affect blood flow and growth of the womb.

The same US study, led by Professor John Boice, from the International Epidemiology Institute in Rockville, Maryland, showed radiotherapy for testicular cancer had no similar impact on young boys, whose chances of successfully having children in later life were unaltered.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The scientists used data from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study to calculate the risk of stillbirth and infant death among the offspring of men and women who had suffered cancer at a young age.

Among 1,657 women and the partners of 1,148 men there were just under 5,000 recorded pregnancies over a period of 31 years.

Radiation treatment of the testicles in men and the pituitary gland in women, and the use of certain chemotherapy drugs in both sexes, were not associated with an increased risk of stillbirth or early baby death.

The pituitary gland in the brain regulates hormones that are important in reproduction.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In contrast, exposure of the womb and ovaries to high-dose radiation raised the risk of stillbirth and infant death nine times across all age groups.

For girls treated for cancer before puberty, radiotherapy at relatively low doses led to an almost five-fold increase in risk.

When higher doses were used, the risk was increased 12 times.

The researchers said: "Whether these types of effects on the uterus increase the risk of placental or umbilical cord anomalies or other factors already linked to stillbirth, or whether they operate through different mechanisms, needs clarification."

No effect was seen on men exposed to testicular irradiation at doses "far higher than would be expected from background exposure, diagnostic medical or occupational settings," they added.

Related topics: