Types Of Cancer
Radiation therapy or chemotherapy is often used as a treatment for certain types of cancer Radiation therapy or chemotherapy is often used as a treatment for certain types of cancer. These therapies often leave patients physically exhausted, and in some cases they can sicken the patient further.
Researchers at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, examined the possible link between a mother's previous history regarding radiation and chemotherapy and the effect, if any, on pregnancy loss, live births, or birth weight.
Information about pregnancy outcomes was collected from female participants in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) who returned questionnaires.
Women were eligible for the CCSS if they were five-year cancer survivors, younger than 21 years old at the time of diagnosis, and were found to have an eligible cancer between January 1, 1970, and December 31, 1986, at the 25 participating CCSS institutions.
The questionnaire included items regarding attempts to become pregnant, the occurence of pregnancy, and the outcome of pregnancy (i.e., live birth, stillbirth, miscarriage, or abortion). Data on the type and frequency of cancer treatments were also analyzed.
Results of the study indicated that adverse pregnancy outcomes for female survivors of cancer could not be identified, although the offspring of women who received pelvic irradiation were found to have a risk of low birth weight.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Vegetus Publications
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group
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