No Link Found Between Fertility Drugs and Cancer

A study has found that use of fertility drugs does not put women at a higher-than-average risk of ovarian cancer. The research was conducted by investigators at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH, PA, USA) and was published in the February 1, 2002, issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The study suggests that some women who receive fertility treatments develop ovarian cancer because of underlying conditions that cause infertility, not because of the treatments. The investigators analyzed data on the use of fertility drugs among 5,207 women with ovarian cancer and 7,705 women without ovarian cancer. Results showed that women who spent more than five years trying to conceive had a 2.7-fold higher risk for ovarian cancer than those who tried for less than one year. Women who used fertility drugs were no more likely to develop ovarian cancer than those who never used fertility drugs. The risk of ovarian cancer dropped with each pregnancy.

The infertile women who were the most likely to develop ovarian cancer were those whose infertility resulted from endometriosis or from unknown causes. The researchers found that ovarian cancer was not associated with the following causes of infertility: ovulation or menstrual problems, ovarian cysts, blocked tubes, uterine development problems, or cervical mucous and/or inflamed cervix.

"This analysis helps put to rest the questions that have been troubling physicians and the women who endure arduous fertility treatments,” said Roberta Ness, M.D., M.P.H., principal investigator and professor of epidemiology at the GSPH.




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University of Pittsburgh Medical Center