Hormonal treatment in pregnancy: A possible risk factor for neuroblastoma

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Abstract
In the last 4 years, 24 cases of neuroblastoma were treated in the Pediatric Hematology‐Oncology Unit at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center, 8 of whom were under 1 year of age. Four of them were the product of a pregnancy‐induced or preserved by gonadotropins, clomiphene citrate, or progestational hormones. These drugs are known to produce a higher than normal level of estradiol or progestrone in the early stages of pregnancy. Our observation led to the hypothesis that high levels of progestational hormones given during pregnancy are a risk factor for neuroblastoma in infancy.