Early childhood cancers are rare with IVF

Early pediatric cancers in children conceived through in vitro fertilization are rare, according to new research. Looking at more than 275,000 children conceived through IVF and more than 2.2 million children conceived without IVF, the researchers found that the childhood cancer rate was 17 percent higher in the IVF group. While there were no differences in most cancer types, the rate of liver cancer was nearly three times as high in the IVF group than in the non-IVF group. The study didn’t take into account factors such as prenatal care and insurance, which could affect the care that the mothers received during pregnancy and the risk of their children developing cancer.