A Potential Pathogenic Link Between Cancer of Female Reproductive System and Infertile Women Treated With Assisted Reproduction Techniques.

Michail Diakosavvas,Zacharias Fasoulakis,Antonios Koutras,Athanasios Syllaios,Nikolaos Garmpis,Emmanuel N Kontomanolis,Thomas Ntounis,Georgios Tsatsaris,Kyveli Angelou

doi:10.21873/invivo.12391

Abstract

Prevention and treatment of infertility remains a priority for developed countries where a large proportion of women undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF) after ovarian stimulation. Latest data suggest that, in the USA alone, almost eight million women of fertile age will have sought medical advice for fertility problems by 2025. However, over the last years, attention has been increasingly focused, and questions have risen, on the long-term health effects in women who underwent assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). Since the emergence of ART, reports highlight a possible connection of ovarian stimulation and several types of gynaecological cancer, including ovarian, endometrial and cervical types, but due to limited scientific evidence, such a speculation is still under investigation. The objective of this review is to summarize the latest data of ovarian hyperstimulation and IVF, associated with the risk of gynecological tract cancer development.

Highlights

Prevention and treatment of infertility remains a priority for developed countries where a large proportion of women undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF) after ovarian stimulation
The aim of this review is to investigate the safety of the fertility treatment modalities, both in the short and long-term, and to examine whether the argument of correlation between carcinogenesis and assisted reproduction techniques is legitimate (Figure 1)
The threat of developing borderline ovarian tumors is increased by Garmpis et al: Fertility Drugs and Gynecologic Cancer (Review) the utilization of gonadotropins as well as clomiphene citrate (CC) by more than three times (SIR=3.61; 95% CI=1.45-7.44) (10)

Summary

Introduction

Prevention and treatment of infertility remains a priority for developed countries where a large proportion of women undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF) after ovarian stimulation. Over the last years, attention has been increasingly focused, and questions have risen, on the long-term health effects in women who underwent assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). Since the begging of ART utilization, an ongoing debate on the long-term effects of fertility treatments and mainly their potential effect on subsequent cancer risk, has existed among members of the scientific community (5, 6). The aim of this review is to investigate the safety of the fertility treatment modalities, both in the short and long-term, and to examine whether the argument of correlation between carcinogenesis and assisted reproduction techniques is legitimate (Figure 1). Our goal, is to determine whether this risk is justifiable given the significant desire of a woman to achieve a pregnancy and give birth

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Discussion

Conclusion