Published 5 February 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b249
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:b249

Research

Use of fertility drugs and risk of ovarian cancer: Danish population based cohort study

¹ Danish Cancer Society, Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Strandboulevarden 49, DK-2100, Copenhagen, Denmark, ² The Juliane Marie Center, Copenhagen University Hospital,

Objective To examine the effects of fertility drugs on overall risk of ovarian cancer using data from a large cohort of infertile women.

Design Population based cohort study.

Setting Danish hospitals and private fertility clinics.

Participants 54 362 women with infertility problems referred to all Danish fertility clinics during 1963-98. The median age at first evaluation of infertility was 30 years (range 16-55 years), and the median age at the end of follow-up was 47 (range 18-81) years. Included in the analysis were 156 women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer (cases) and 1241 subcohort members identified in the cohort during follow-up in 2006.

Main outcome measure Effect of four groups of fertility drugs (gonadotrophins, clomifene citrate, human chorionic gonadotrophin, and gonadotrophin releasing hormone) on overall risk of ovarian cancer after adjustment for potential confounding factors.

Results Analyses within cohort showed no overall increased risk of ovarian cancer after any use of gonadotrophins (rate ratio 0.83, 95% confidence interval 0.50 to 1.37), clomifene (1.14, 0.79 to 1.64), human chorionic gonadotrophin (0.89, 0.62 to 1.29), or gonadotrophin releasing hormone (0.80, 0.42 to 1.51). Furthermore, no associations were found between all four groups of fertility drugs and number of cycles of use, length of follow-up, or parity.

Conclusion No convincing association was found between use of fertility drugs and risk of ovarian cancer.

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Fertility drugs and ovarian cancer

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BMJ 2009 338: a3075. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Jensen, A., Sharif, H., Kjaer, S. K. (2009). Use of Fertility Drugs and Risk of Uterine Cancer: Results From a Large Danish Population-based Cohort Study. Am J Epidemiol 170: 1408-1414 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• (2009). Fertility Drugs Are Not Associated with Ovarian Cancer. JWatch Women's Health 2009: 1-1 [Full text]  
• Webb, P. M (2009). Fertility drugs and ovarian cancer. BMJ 338: a3075-a3075 [Full text]  

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