Highlights
- •Frozen embryo transfer may increase potential risk in paediatric cancer which needs further confirmation.
- •Other infertility treatments except frozen embryo transfer are not related to paediatric cancer risk.
- •Children conceived by frozen embryo transfer need a longer follow-up.
Abstract
Background
It is important to explore the association between different fertility treatments
and the incidence of paediatric cancer, as this will provide crucial guidance for
clinical decision-making. Previous studies have explored the relationship between
fertility treatments and different types of cancer in offspring, but the results are
controversial.
Method
Two authors searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane databases independently
to acquire qualified studies. Then, the same authors extracted data from these studies
and analysed these data using RevMan 5.3.
Main results
Eleven case–control studies and 16 cohort studies were included in this review and
meta-analysis. The relative risk of association between in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and paediatric cancer incidence was 1.01 (95% confidence interval
[CI]: 0.80–1.28) in cohort studies and 1.09 (95% CI: 0.74–1.58) in case–control studies.
The relative risk of association between intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and
paediatric cancer incidence was 0.97 (95% CI: 0.80–1.17) in cohort studies. The relative
risk of association between fertility drugs and paediatric cancer incidence was 1.07
(95% CI: 0.68–1.69) in cohort studies and 1.12 (95% CI: 0.90–1.41) in case–control
studies. The relative risk of association between frozen embryo transfer and paediatric
cancer incidence was 1.37 (95% CI: 1.04–1.81) in natural pregnancy controls and 1.28
(95% CI: 0.96–1.69) in fresh embryo transfer controls.
Conclusion
There is no evidence that IVF, ICSI and fertility drugs are associated with an increase
in paediatric cancer incidence in offspring; however, frozen embryo transfer is associated
with an increase in paediatric cancer incidence in the offspring, but this finding
needs further research and attention.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 01, 2020
Accepted:
August 5,
2020
Received in revised form:
May 27,
2020
Received:
March 19,
2020
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
