Women with a history of pre-eclampsia are at increased risk of cancer, particularly cancers of the stomach, breast, ovary, lung, and larynx, shows new research from Israel. This study will be available on http://bmj.com on Friday 5 March 2004.

Previous studies have shown either no association or have suggested a protective association between pre-eclampsia and cancer, but the evidence is inconsistent.

Researchers compared the incidence of cancer among 37,033 women who delivered babies in three large hospitals in West Jerusalem during 1964-76.

After pre-eclampsia there was an overall excess of cancer when all sites were combined. The risk of breast cancer was significantly increased for pre-eclamptic women after taking into account differences in age and number of births prior to entry into the study.

The risk of cancers of the stomach, ovary, lung or larynx were also significantly increased after adjusting for age.

The authors suggest that certain environmental and genetic factors may contribute to the development of both pre-eclampsia and cancer in Middle Eastern populations.

To view the full paper: http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/march/eclampsia.pdf