Marriage and offspring in adult long-term survivors of childhood cancer: A study from the childhood cancer registry of the Piedmont region (Italy)

Objectives. To assess marriage rate and number of offspring in a large population-based cohort of adult long-term survivors of childhood cancer, living in the Piedmont Region (Italy). Methods. From the file of the Childhood Cancer Registry of Piedmont we extracted the 918 cases born before 1980, who had been diagnosed as having cancer between 1965 and 1994; they were followed-up until 2000. Observed frequencies of marriage and offspring were compared with the corresponding figures in Piedmont in 1991, after standardization by age. Results and Conclusion. Two hundred fifty-five had married (27.8%) and 12 lived with their mates (1.3%). Marriage rate in both men and women was lower than in the general population for the entire period evaluated, for all age groups and for the different categories of disease. The difference was larger for men, for individuals affected by brain tumor (both genders) or lymphoma (men only). In this cohort, 98 women and 64 men were reported at follow-up as having one or more children. Parenthood probability was higher for women, and for persons with cancer diagnosed after 5 years of age.