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Review
. 2016 Dec;106(7):1617-1626.
doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2016.08.035. Epub 2016 Aug 26.

Fertility drugs and cancer: a guideline

Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Electronic address: ASRM@asrm.org  1 ; Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine
Collaborators, Affiliations
Free article
Review

Fertility drugs and cancer: a guideline

Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Electronic address: ASRM@asrm.org et al. Fertil Steril. 2016 Dec.
Free article

Abstract

Methodological limitations in studying the association between the use of fertility drugs and cancer include the inherent increased risk of cancer in women who never conceive, the low incidence of most of these cancers, and that the age of diagnosis of cancer typically is many years after fertility drug use. Based on available data, there does not appear to be a meaningful increased risk of invasive ovarian cancer, breast cancer, or endometrial cancer following the use of fertility drugs. Several studies have shown a small increased risk of borderline ovarian tumors; however, there is insufficient consistent evidence that a particular fertility drug increases the risk of borderline ovarian tumors, and any absolute risk is small. Given the available literature, patients should be counseled that infertile women may be at an increased risk of invasive ovarian, endometrial, and breast cancer; however, use of fertility drugs does not appear to increase this risk.

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