Women who undergo fertility treatment are no more likely to develop breast
or ovarian cancer than any other female, an international review shows.
Australian fertility experts say the results of the study, presented at
conference in Spain on Tuesday, should be reassuring to the 500,000 women
who have gone through treatment since the first IVF baby was born in 1980.
Early studies suggested that fertility drugs to stimulate egg production
could increase the risk of ovarian cancer.
While no further research has backed the findings, other studies have been
too small to disprove the link, leaving uncertainty about the drugs'
influence on hormone-related cancers.
But a large-scale literature review by scientists at the US National Cancer
Institute has allayed fears, concluding that "the data to date generally are
reassuring in not showing large increases in cancer risk associated with the
usage of fertility drugs".
Among the studies reviewed was a Monash University survey of more than
16,000 women who have undergone the treatment.
Epidemiologist Dr Louise Brinton told the European Society of Human
Reproduction meeting in Barcelona that their results were "positive".
However, more research was needed on the lesser studied hormone-related
cancers like melanoma and bowel cancer, the review states.
Professor Michael Chapman, director of IVF Australia, said the results were
great news for the industry and the increasing number of women seeking
treatment for fertility troubles.
"Women who had IVF in the 1980s and 90s are now getting to an age where an
increased cancer risk would be obvious but, as the research shows, we're not
seeing it," said Prof Chapman, who is attending the congress.
"We've always worried that the drugs we give over a very short period of
time may stimulate something in the ovary that might lead to cancer and now
we can be confident that that's not the case."
About 500,000 Australian women have taken part in fertility treatment in the
past 30 years, with about 80,000 babies born as a result.
Success rates from one treatment cycle have jumped from 10 per cent to about
35 per cent over that time, Prof Chapman said.
© 2008 AAP
