International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Women who undergo radiotherapy to the womb or ovaries in childhood could have problems with having a child later in life, according to researchers from the Vanderbilt University in the US.

More than 1,600 women were studied from the US and Canada and scientists found the risk of stillbirth or infant death was increased in women who had had the cancer treatment before reaching puberty.

In the UK, around 1,700 children aged under 15 are diagnosed with cancer each year, according to Cancer Research UK.

One in three children with cancer will suffer from leukaemia; while a quarter will have cancer of the brain or spinal cord.

Most people in the study, which was published in medical journal the Lancet, had suffered from either leukaemia or lymphoma during childhood.

Virginia Beckett, of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, one of FIGO's member associations, said doctors in the UK were aware of an increased risk of problems during pregnancy for women who had undergone radiotherapy.

"We would always carefully monitor the pregnancies, but there is a limit to what we can do to prevent stillbirths and early deaths in these cases."

Posted by Alexandra George