Fertility Drugs Don't Cause Ovary Cancer
Fertility Drugs Don't Cause Ovary Cancer
Jan. 25, 2002 -- One researcher says her latest findings should put to rest any questions about the link between fertility drugs and ovarian cancer. Her findings suggest that it's the causes of infertility -- such as endometriosis -- that actually increase the cancer risk.
"For more than a decade, controversy has surrounded the relationships among infertility, fertility drug use, and the risk of ovarian cancer," says Roberta Ness, MD, MPH, in a news release. "This analysis helps put to rest the questions that have been troubling physicians and the women who endure arduous fertility treatments."
Previous research on fertility drugs and ovarian cancer has shown mixed results. But this latest study is the largest one done to date.
Ness, associate professor of epidemiology at University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, and colleagues analyzed data from eight studies of almost 13,000 women. The results appear in the Feb. 1 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Women who tried to get pregnant for more than 5 years were almost three times as likely to develop ovarian cancer than those who tried for less than a year. But women who had used fertility drugs were no more likely to develop ovarian cancer than were women who had not used these drugs.
But one disturbing finding is that women who had endometriosis or an unknown cause for infertility were almost twice as likely to develop ovarian cancer.
Endometriosis occurs when tissue that lines the uterus grows in other areas including the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and bladder. This causes severe pain in some women as well as infertility.
Ness suggests that the inflammation seen in endometriosis may be the cause behind the increased chance of ovarian cancer.
There was no link between ovarian cancer and certain other causes of infertility, including ovulation or menstrual problems, ovarian cysts, and blocked tubes.
Ness and colleagues' findings suggest that it's the infertility itself, and not the fertility drugs, that actually increase the risk of ovarian cancer.
Fertility Drugs Don't Cause Ovary Cancer
Jan. 25, 2002 -- One researcher says her latest findings should put to rest any questions about the link between fertility drugs and ovarian cancer. Her findings suggest that it's the causes of infertility -- such as endometriosis -- that actually increase the cancer risk.
"For more than a decade, controversy has surrounded the relationships among infertility, fertility drug use, and the risk of ovarian cancer," says Roberta Ness, MD, MPH, in a news release. "This analysis helps put to rest the questions that have been troubling physicians and the women who endure arduous fertility treatments."
Previous research on fertility drugs and ovarian cancer has shown mixed results. But this latest study is the largest one done to date.
Ness, associate professor of epidemiology at University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, and colleagues analyzed data from eight studies of almost 13,000 women. The results appear in the Feb. 1 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Women who tried to get pregnant for more than 5 years were almost three times as likely to develop ovarian cancer than those who tried for less than a year. But women who had used fertility drugs were no more likely to develop ovarian cancer than were women who had not used these drugs.
But one disturbing finding is that women who had endometriosis or an unknown cause for infertility were almost twice as likely to develop ovarian cancer.
Endometriosis occurs when tissue that lines the uterus grows in other areas including the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and bladder. This causes severe pain in some women as well as infertility.
Ness suggests that the inflammation seen in endometriosis may be the cause behind the increased chance of ovarian cancer.
There was no link between ovarian cancer and certain other causes of infertility, including ovulation or menstrual problems, ovarian cysts, and blocked tubes.
Ness and colleagues' findings suggest that it's the infertility itself, and not the fertility drugs, that actually increase the risk of ovarian cancer.
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