Congenital anomalies in children of patients who received chemotherapy for cancer in childhood and adolescence

Article Abstract:

Chemotherapy is a therapeutic strategy in which toxic drugs are administered in an effort to eradicate a disease condition such as cancer. Many chemotherapeutic agents are capable of damaging the patients' genetic material (DNA), resulting in gene mutations that can be passed along to their offspring. Several studies reported to date have failed to find any effect of chemotherapeutic treatment in childhood and adolescence on subsequent success in reproductive function and production of normal offspring. However, a limited number of chemotherapy drugs was evaluated in these studies and the patients were not stratified by the dose of drug they received. To further investigate the link between chemotherapy and genetic alteration, the medical records of 1,239 patients under the age of 20 who had been diagnosed with and received chemotherapy for cancer were reviewed. A subset of 306 patients who had been diagnosed more than five years prior and were currently over the age of 18 completed a questionnaire detailing their reproductive history. Of the total respondents, 100 patients reported 202 pregnancies. Of the patients who had been treated with chemotherapy, 60 patients or wives of patients had full-term pregnancies; these pregnancies resulted in 100 live births and two stillbirths. Congenital abnormalities occurred in 8.1 percent of the children of female patients and in 7.9 percent of the children of male patients, which is no higher than reported for the general population. Of the various types of congenital abnormalities, the only one that showed a relationship to drug treatment was heart defects, which were present in 10.0 percent (2 of 20) of the children of patients who had been treated with the anti-cancer drug dactinomycin (compared with a 0.6 percent prevalence in the general population). There was no relationship between the number of chemotherapeutic drugs received or the dose of any drug and the frequency of congenital anomalies. However, the apparent link between dactinomycin treatment and congenital heart defects warrants further study. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Causes of, DNA damage, Cancer, Dactinomycin

---

Pregnancy outcome after treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia during childhood or adolescence

Article Abstract:

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a childhood cancer in which blood cells do not fully mature. Improved chemotherapeutic agents have allowed patients to survive to adulthood. The effects of childhood chemotherapy on male and female fertility, pregnancy and the health of offspring were reviewed in 44 patients over the age of 18 years. These patients were all under 20 years of age when ALL was diagnosed and at least five years had passed since their diagnosis. Information regarding fertility was provided by 39 patients, with 12 patients achieving a total of 27 pregnancies. There were four natural abortions (miscarriages), one stillborn and 22 liveborn infants. The average weight at birth was 3,430 grams (7.5 pounds). A minor congenital malformation was identified in two infants (nine percent), which is the same as the frequency of anomalies in the normal population for this age group (9.1 percent). None of the offspring had evidence of childhood cancer. Damage to the ovaries and testicles does not occur often following treatment with vincristine, prednisone, 6-mercaptopurine and methotrexate chemotherapeutic agents. Poor pregnancy outcome was not increased after treatment of ALL in childhood. The frequency of minor genetic mutations needs to be studied in a larger group of patients. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Lymphoblastic leukemia in children, Acute lymphocytic leukemia, Childhood leukemia

---

Birth defects and childhood cancer in offspring of survivors of childhood cancer

Article Abstract:

Prior chemotherapy treatment in cancer patients does not appear to cause genetic defects in their children. Researchers interviewed 91 men and women who had had cancer at least five years earlier and who had gone on to have one or more children. The incidence of inborn abnormalities was 3%, no different than would normally be expected. None of the children had developed childhood cancer. However, the number of children studied is too small and the length of time of follow-up too short to draw firm conclusions. In addition, different chemotherapy agents may have different effects.

Health aspects, Family, Cancer survivors

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: It's all right for some. The quality of care patients receive varies according to the type of cancer they have
• Abstracts: Nocardia infection in patients with liver transplants or chronic liver disease: radiologic findings. Pulmonary infection after cardiac transplantation: clinical and radiologic correlations
• Abstracts: Hospital care for elderly patients with diseases of the circulatory system; a comparison of hospital use in the United States and Canada
• Abstracts: Does obstetric ethics have any role in the obstetrician's response to the abortion controversy? Prenatal informed consent for sonogram: an indication for obstetric ultrasonography
• Abstracts: Body composition of humans: comparison of two improved four-compartment models that differ in expense, technical complexity, and radiation exposure

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.