Colon cancer in the mother is associated with premature birth in the newborn

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Consequences for the newborn

The researchers also investigated the relationship between cancer and how the newborn was. Colorectal cancer was associated with a 2.3-fold increased risk of premature birth in a baby.

However, I would also like to point out that we did not find any increased risk of malformations, low Apgar scores (which show the baby is sick at birth) or growth retardation in children of women with colorectal cancer, says corresponding author Professor Jonas F. Ludvigsson, pediatrician at Orebro University Hospital, and professor at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet.

Our study is statistically robust and based on registry data for all births in Sweden from 1992-2019 to women with previous colorectal cancer, Ludvigson adds and continues:

– I am fascinated by the pregnancy and newborn complications of women with colorectal cancer, while at the same time they are no higher than in the siblings of these women. This suggests that pregnancy/delivery complications and colorectal cancer may partly share common risk factors.

So far, there are no clinical guidelines for pregnancy in women with colorectal cancer, says Kao, adding:

Our study confirms the importance of treating pregnancy and childbirth in women with colorectal cancer who are still of childbearing age.

financing

The main funders of the study are the US National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the Cancer Fund, and the Swedish Medical Association.

Conflict of interest

Dr Ludvigsson coordinated a study commissioned by the Swedish IBD Quality Registry (SWIBREG). This study received funding from Janssen Corporation. Yin Cao was a consultant in Geneoscopy but unrelated to the current study. Other co-authors reported no conflicts of interest.

Publishing

Yin Kao, Stefanie Zhao, Thomas Sjöberg-Pixelius, Jonas Soderling, Mingyao Shi, Bjorn Roelstreet, Barbara P. Warner, Olof Stefansson, Jonas F. Ludvigsson. Pregnancy and neonatal outcomes among women with early-onset colorectal cancer: a nationwide case-control study eClinicalMedicine, Online Apr 13, 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.101963.