Abstract
Recent attention, in both the medical and lay communities, has been focused on a possible causal relationship between ovulation induction and ovarian carcinoma. The three cases reported here display marked heterogeneity in their risk factor profiles for ovarian cancer, illustrating several of the inconsistencies that have hampered epidemiological studies examining the proposed mutagenic effect of fertility drugs on ovarian epithelium. Three cases of stage IV invasive ovarian carcinoma, developing in infertility patients following from one to seven cycles of ovulation induction, are presented. The biological plausibility of a causal effect of fertility drugs on ovarian carcinogenesis has not been corroborated by consistent dose- dependent or lag-time effects. Fertility drug use may be an incidental finding associated with the known ovarian cancer risk factor of infertility. Nevertheless, until the precise effects of fertility drugs on ovarian epithelium are elucidated, a high index of suspicion for malignant ovarian neoplasms in women using these medications is indicated.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 112-116 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | International Journal of Gynecological Cancer |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 1997 |
Keywords
- infertility
- ovarian cancer
- ovulation induction
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology
- Obstetrics and Gynecology