subject: IVF and an Increased Cancer Risk Proven Wrong [print this page] IVF and an Increased Cancer Risk Proven Wrong
Contrary to hypothesis, In-Vitro Fertilization does not increase a women's risk of cancer, a new study demonstrates.
Previous research suggested there may be a correlation between IVF treatment and increased cancer rates- specifically breast, uterine and ovarian cancers. These studies demonstrate that the reverse is true: certain cancers increase the risk of needing IVF treatment. However, a new study from the University of Lund in Sweden suggests that IVF treatment does not increase one's risk of cancer.
Scientists studied 24,000 women who gave birth after undergoing IVF treatment. They compared the cancer rates among these women to 1.4 million women among the general Swedish population who gave birth over the same time period.
The results showed fewer women in the IVF group developed cancer. Of the 24,000 women who had undergone IVF treatment, less than 2% developed cancer whereas 5% of the women from the larger control group developed cancer. The study suggests that IFV treatment, specifically the hormones involved in IVF, does not cause women to develop cancer after giving birth.
"The risk for two common cancers, breast and cervical, was significantly lower than expected," study leader Dr. Bengt Kallen states.
An increased risk of cancer as an infertility treatment risk could deter women from infertility testing
"A couple who needs IVF does not have to be afraid that the hormone treatment used- at least those used in Sweden- will carry a risk for the woman to develop cancer."
The results were different for ovarian cancer, however. The women who underwent IVF treatment were twice as likely to develop ovarian cancer as women from the general population. Dr. Kallen explained this correlation may not be a result from the IVF treatment itself, but rather abnormalities in ovarian function that spark a need for IVF treatment in the first place.
The results were published in the journal Human Reproduction.
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