Do the Fertility Drugs Increase the Risk of Cancer? A Review Study

Abstract

Aim: All over the world, many couples cannot conceive a child and have problems with pregnancy. Ovulation-inducing drugs are among the most important drugs used for the treatment of infertility. In recent years, there have been many debates about the relationship between fertility medication and cancer. Due to the lack of comprehensive study of this matter, and as understanding the relationship between the use of fertility drugs and cancer is of importance, the present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between infertility drugs and cancer in women. Materials and Methods: To determine the relationship between infertility treatment and cancer, a comprehensive search was carried out in databases such as; Medline, Web of Science Core Collection, and Scopus using keywords words; “infertility,” “ovulation induction,” “cancer,” “infertility treatment,” “ART,” “tumor,” “controlled ovarian stimulation,” “fertility agents,” and “neoplasms.” Full-text, English language, and original articles were included in this study. Results: In total, 81 articles were entered into the study. The relationship between fertility medications and breast, ovary, endometrial, uterus, colon, thyroid, skin, cervical, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cancers were studied. Although the relationship between fertility medications and cancer is theoretically justifiable, most studies have shown that risk of cancer will not increase after fertility treatment. Conclusion: The results of this study did not show that fertility medications increase the risk of cancer among users. In summary, the relationship between infertility treatment and cancer incidence remains an open question.

Chemotherapy During Pregnancy for Advanced Colon Cancer: A Case Report

“…Also, suggestions that estrogen or fertility treatment may affect the risk of colorectal cancer has to our knowledge not been confirmed. [30][31][32] In the post partum period, aggressive cancer treatment, including surgery for liver metastases, should be considered. 15 Our patient had an exceptionally good response to chemotherapy, with pathologic complete response of the primary tumour, and conversion to resectable liver metastases.…”

Papillary thyroid carcinoma: case presentation and literature report

“…Among the patient's antecedents related to thyroid disease, he refers to a brother with unspecified thyroid disease; underwent hormonal treatment and in vitro insemination for infertility the previous year. Multiple studies have associated infertility, and thyroid carcinoma with contradictory results; 12,13,14 however, a meta-analysis 15 refers to an increased risk of thyroid cancer in infertile women undergoing hormonal treatments, regardless of the number of pregnancies.…”

In vitro effects of clomiphene citrate on sperm parameters and fertilisation rate in male NMRI mice

“…Clomiphene citrate is known as the most common treatment in male infertility and is counted as significant evidence in spermatogenesis improvement. According to review literature, although in vivo consumption of CC causes improvement in semen quality, sperm parameters, motility and the fertility rate in men (Ghanem et al, ; Hussein et al, ; Willets et al, ), however, this chemical compound has many side effects such as malignant melanoma and thyroid cancer risk (Momenimovahed, Tiznobaik, & Salehiniya, ). Thus, in order to overcome the CC side effects, the present study assessed the effects of in vitro administration of various doses of CC (0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10 μg/ml) on the sperm parameters and fertilisation rate which was followed by IVF.…”