Every coin has two sides and the same is true in the case of radiotherapy (radiation therapy). Radiotherapy is an important tool in the treatment of cancer but it was recently found to have some adverse effects on the outcome of pregnancy. A recent study has shown that women who had undergone radiotherapy during their childhood are at a risk of giving stillbirth. The study was conducted by researchers from Vanderbilt University across 25 centers in US and one in Canada. 2,805 childhood cancer survivors were studied to find out the effect of radiotherapy on the outcomes of pregnancies in women and any child fathered by male cancer survivors. People who aged below 21 and were diagnosed with cancer between 1970 and 1986 were a part of this study. The study mainly focused on all live births, stillbirths and newborn deaths. The doses of radiotherapy given to different sites of the body, specifically to the testes, ovaries, uterus and pituitary gland that regulates sex hormones were determined. The results were then related to the risk of stillbirth or newborn death.

The researchers found that radiation exposure to the uterus or ovaries at a dose above 10Gy (Gy or Gray is the unit of measurement for doses of radiation) significantly increased the woman’s risk of going through stillbirth or newborn death. It was also found that girls whose ovaries or uterus had been exposed to the radiation before the onset of puberty had higher risk of stillbirth or newborn death even at a low dose of radiotherapy.

However, no increased risk was found in case of children fathered by men exposed to radiation suggesting that radiotherapy does not induce any DNA damage. Exposure of radiation to pituitary gland of women even in higher dose was found to have no effect on the outcome of pregnancy. Also, it was established that chemotherapy did not play any role in an increased risk of stillbirth in both men and women. 

Although a well conducted study, the result was mainly based on the analysis of five out of 28 women who had received a high dose of radiation to their ovaries or uterus. The effect of high dose of radiotherapy on other pregnancy related complications such as miscarriage, congenital diseases and the likes were not studied in this research. Radiation damage to the uterus was not clinically tested and thus it remains a theory. The researchers also noted that the sample taken for the study consists of people who had received treatment between the years 1970 to 1986. And radiotherapy during this period may have differed slightly from those given today. It suggests that the outcomes for such pregnancies might be different for those receiving radiotherapy in the present day.

Nonetheless, the findings have successfully highlighted the fact that the women with a medical history of radiation exposure to their pelvis as a child should receive careful supervision during pregnancy. A further research on a larger group in future could possibly throw more light on the risks related to radiotherapy in women.