Potashnik, G., Lerner-Geva, L., Genkin, L., Chetrit, A., Lunenfeld, E., & Porath, A. (1999). Fertility drugs and the risk of breast and ovarian cancers: results of a long-term follow-up study. Fertility and Sterility, 71(5), 853-859. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0015-0282(99)00085-0
Potashnik G, Lerner-Geva L, Genkin L, Chetrit A, Lunenfeld E, Porath A. Fertility drugs and the risk of breast and ovarian cancers: results of a long-term follow-up study. Fertil Steril. 1999;71(5):853-859. doi:10.1016/s0015-0282(99)00085-0
Potashnik, Gad, et al. "Fertility drugs and the risk of breast and ovarian cancers: results of a long-term follow-up study." Fertility and Sterility, vol. 71, no. 5, 1999, pp. 853-859.
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To investigate a possible linkage between the use of fertility drugs for infertility and the risk of breast and ovarian cancers.
Design
Long-term, historic-prospective study.
Setting
Fertility clinic in a university hospital.
Patients
Files of 1,197 infertile women with a mean (+/- SD) follow-up of 17.9+/-5 years (21,407 person-years) were reviewed. Diagnoses, number of courses, and dosage of fertility drugs were extracted from the files.
Interventions
Cancers were identified by record linkage to the National Cancer Registry. Histopathologic reports and data on estrogen and progesterone receptors in breast cancer tissue were also reviewed.
Main Outcome Measures
Standardized incidence ratio with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used for risk assessment.
Results
Of 20 breast cancers (standardized incidence ratio, 1.40 [95% CI, 0.83-2.10]), 16 were detected among 780 women who had been exposed to 3,978 cycles of clomiphene citrate (CC) and/or hMG (standardized incidence ratio, 1.65 [95% CI, 0.94-2.68]). The standardized incidence ratio for this cancer was significantly increased only in patients with one or two CC treatments and a dose of < or =1,000 mg (2.6 [1.19-5.0] and 2.52 [1.21-4.64], respectively). Two cases of ovarian cancer (1 patient unexposed) were observed with no evidence of excessive risk. Six of the eight patients with data on estrogen and progesterone receptors were exposed to CC, and all tested positive for these receptors.
Conclusions
An association between the use of fertility drugs and an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancers has not been confirmed.
General Gynecology › Cancer and Fertility › Hormone Sensitive Cancer and Reproductive Care · Therapeutics › Ovulation Agents › Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators · Assisted Reproduction › Safety and Risks › Maternal Complications
Gad Potashnik, Liat Lerner-Geva, Leonid Genkin, Angela Chetrit, Eitan Lunenfeld, Avi Porath
G Potashnik, L Lerner-Geva, L Genkin, A Chetrit, E Lunenfeld, A Porath
PMID 10231045 10231045 DOI 10.1016/s0015-0282(99)00085-0 10.1016/s0015-0282(99)00085-0 Potashnik et al. 1999, Potashnik 1999
