Study finds mother's chemotherapy safe for unborn children

A study which was recently presented at the European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress found children whose mothers were treated with chemotherapy during pregnancy were not affected by the chemotherapy. This led researchers to conclude pregnant cancer patients don't need to have abortions or delay chemotherapy beyond the first trimester.

"The data suggest the children suffer more from prematurity than from prenatal chemotherapy," said Dr. Frederic Amant, a gynecological oncologist at the University Hospitals Leuven in Belgium, who led the research and presented his findings at the European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress (EMCC) in Stockholm.

While results presented at meetings are usually considered preliminary, he said the data show there is no need for pregnant cancer patients to have abortions or delay chemotherapy treatment beyond the first trimester, but stressed that doctors should avoid inducing early birth if at all possible.

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