Cancer

A recent study published by the The Lancet Oncology indicates that children of women who received chemotherapy during their pregnancy suffer no adverse effects, developing as well as children in the general population. The study was led by Dr Frédéric Amant, Multidisciplinary Breast Cancer Center, Leuven Cancer Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

The researchers assessed 68 pregnancies of mothers who received an average of three to four cycles of chemotherapy - a total of 236 cycles. The average age of cancer diagnosis for the mothers was 18 weeks into pregnancy. The median gestation age of birth was at 36 weeks, with two thirds (47) of the women giving birth before 37 weeks. A total of 70 children were assessed, ranging from ages 1.5 to 18 years.

They carried out a series of tests on the children to examine their overall health and development, including: Bayley or intelligence quotient tests, electrocardiography and echocardiography, and a questionnaire on general health and development. Children above the age of 5 were given more tests such as the Auditory Verbal Learning Test, audiometry, the Test of Everyday Attention for Children, and their parents were to complete a 'Child Behavior Checklist'.

Neurocognitive outcomes were within normal ranges for children born at full term, children born preterm, however, had lower results, but the authors stress that this difference is found among the general population as well. The results of the tests indicated that the children's behavior, general health, heart dimensions/function, hearing, and growth were all equal to the average results of children in the general population.