67 Births from Donated Sperm, 10 Diagnosed with 'Rare Cancer', What Happened?

[Financial News]  It has been confirmed that 10 out of 67 children born from the sperm of a man with a rare cancer genetic mutation have been diagnosed with cancer, causing shock.

On the 27th (local time), according to the US CNN broadcast, biologist Edwige Kasper from Rouen University Hospital in France announced at the European Society of Human Genetics in Italy that 10 children born from the sperm of a man with a rare genetic mutation have been diagnosed with brain tumors or Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The sperm donated by the man was used to conceive at least 67 children in 46 families from 2008 to 2015.

It was confirmed that 13 had the mutation, but they have not developed cancer.

Kasper explained, "They need regular check-ups because they are at high risk of developing cancer," and "the probability of passing cancer to their children is 50%."

The donor was a man with a mutation in the cancer-suppressing gene TP53, but it is reported that he donated sperm without knowing this fact.

People with TP53 mutations are likely to suffer from a rare genetic disorder called Li-Fraumeni syndrome, which increases the risk of various cancers.

At the time of donation at the 'European Sperm Bank' in Denmark, the relationship between TP53 mutations and cancer was not established, and the donor himself was reportedly healthy.

The sperm bank stated, "We conducted tests beyond the necessary standards to verify if the donor was a carrier of genetic diseases," and "there are limitations to preventive genetic testing on humans with 20,000 genes."

Meanwhile, the number of births allowed varies by country in Europe: France limits the number of births per donor to 10, Denmark to 12, and Germany to 15. However, there is no regulation across Europe on the number of children that can be born from the same donor.

Kasper pointed out, "The lack of regulation on the number of births from a single donor seems to be the core of the problem," and "the absence of unified regulations across Europe is a serious issue."

He emphasized, "Appropriate regulations at the European level are needed to prevent such incidents from happening again," and "measures are needed to implement a global limit on the number of children that can be conceived from the same donor."

Julie Pauli Boots, Vice President of Corporate Communications at the European Sperm Bank, told CNN, "We were deeply shocked by this case," and "this donor was thoroughly tested beyond the required standards, but preventive genetic testing showed its limitations."

She added, "Humans have about 20,000 genes, and it is scientifically impossible to find disease-causing mutations within an individual's gene pool without knowing what to look for," and "there should be a limit on the number of children that can be born from a single donor."

newssu@fnnews.com Kim Su-yeon Reporter