Fertility Drugs Not Linked To Ovarian Cancer Risk
Posted on: Friday, 6 February 2009, 16:06 CST
In the largest study of its kind, researchers at the Danish Cancer Society in Copenhagen found that women who use fertility drugs do not increase their risk of developing ovarian cancer.
Doubts about fertility drugs’ impact on the development of ovarian cancer have persisted for years. Two clinical trials conducted in the mid-1990s suggesting a link caused further anxiety among women seeking to improve their fertility. However, the number of women included in those trials was small, and further studies failed to show an association.
Most ovarian cancers are believed to originate from a layer of epithelial cells that surround the ovary. Scientists have long speculated that the natural cycle of damage and repair that occurs during ovulation could harm DNA and potentially lead to cancer. It was hypothesized that the fertility drugs’ stimulation of over-ovulation might raise the risk of ovarian cancer.
However, the new study, in which researchers led by Allan Jensen, analyzed medical records of 52,362 women with infertility problems from 1963 to 1998, found the drugs did not increase ovarian cancer risk, even in women who had undergone 10 or more treatment cycles.
The results were further supported by the fact that 156 women with ovarian cancer were included, more than three times the number evaluated in any previous study.
"These data are reassuring and provide further evidence that fertility drugs do not increase a woman's risk of ovarian cancer to any great extent," said Penelope Webb of Royal Brisbane Hospital.
"Given the increasing number of women seeking fertility treatment, this is important information for clinicians and their patients," Webb wrote in a commentary about the study.
The drugs included the study were clomifenes, gonadotrophins, human chorionic gonadotrophin and gonadotrophin releasing hormone.
The research was published in the British Medical Journal.
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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