Newborns with congenital heart defects face elevated cancer risk
Infants born with congenital heart defects may face a heightened risk of developing childhood cancer, according to new data published in Circulation.[1]
The study’s authors tracked data from more than 3.5 million births that occurred from 2005 to 2019. More than 51% of the newborns were boys. Both newborns and their mothers were followed for an average of 10 years. All data came from the Korean National Health Insurance Service.
Overall, the group found that the cancer rate among newborns with congenital heart defects was 66% higher than those born without one. In fact, the risk was especially high when the defect involved the newborn’s heart valves or blood vessels. Leukemia (21%) and Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (11%) were the two most common forms of childhood cancer.
Another key takeaway from the new analysis was the fact that mothers who gave birth to newborns with congenital heart defects were 17% more likely to receive a cancer diagnosis in the following 10 years than other mothers of newborns. It remains unclear what causes this association.
“Our research highlights the importance of maternal factors and genetic traits and understanding how they may be connected,” June Huh, MD, PhD, a professor of cardiology in the department of pediatrics at the Heart Vascular Stroke Institute at Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul, Korea, said in a statement.
“There is some data that suggests stress is related to cancer risk, and having a child with a congenital heart defect can be very stressful,” added Keila N. Lopez, MD, MPH, an American Heart Association representative who did not participate in the study. “So having studies that investigate and demonstrate all the links between cancer and congenital heart defects will help us understand lifelong risks of not only heart defects but also the development of cancer within families.”
Click here to read the full analysis in Circulation.
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.