A common chemotherapy drug may raise the risk of cancer in the children and grandchildren of survivors, scientists warn.
Research on mice found that giving a single course of ifosfamide to young male rodents triggered harmful genetic changes passed down to at least two generations of offspring (file image)
By CONNOR BOYD HEALTH EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Tests on mice found that giving a single course of ifosfamide to young male rodents triggered harmful genetic changes passed down to at least two generations of offspring.
As well as cancerous tumors, these changes were linked to a higher risk of kidney and reproductive diseases and behavioral and learning problems.
The team from Washington State University has launched a follow-up study involving young men to confirm the findings in humans.
In the meantime, they are urging both men and women who plan to have children to freeze their sperm or eggs before receiving chemotherapy.
But they stress the findings do not mean cancer patients should not take ifosfamide – which has been a lifesaver for countless Americans.
Ifosfamide is listed as one of the world’s essential medicines by the World Health Organization (WHO). It has been given to hundreds of thousands of Americans since gaining approval in the late 1980s.
Previous research has shown that chemotherapy and other cancer treatments can increase patients’ personal risk of developing tumors later in life.