Israel’s Health Ministry advising genetic testing for those conceived via sperm donations in central Israel from 1974 to 1985, after discovering donor carried a Lynch syndrome mutation linked to elevated cancer risk.
The Israeli Ministry of Health announced that following the death of a sperm donor, it was discovered that he carried a genetic mutation associated with Lynch syndrome — an inherited condition that significantly increases the risk of certain cancers, particularly of the colon and uterus.
The Ministry recommends that individuals born from sperm donations conducted in central Israel between 1974 and 1985, as well as women who received these donations, undergo genetic testing at an appropriate laboratory. The identified mutation is MSH2 1906G→C, which carries a 50% hereditary risk.
This test is not currently included in the “basket” of subsidized medical tests, and those seeking testing are advised to contact their health funds for further evaluation or genetic counseling.
Last month, The Guardian reported a similar incident in Europe, after The European Sperm Bank confirmed that the variant in a gene called TP53 was present in some sperm from a donor who had aided in the conception of at least 67 children from 46 families across the continent between 2008-2015.
The variant has since been found in 23 of those children, and ten of them have been diagnosed with cancer.
The European Sperm Bank currently caps the number of families worldwide who can use a single donor’s sperm at 75.
