Does Assisted Reproductive Technology Increase the Risk for Ovarian Carcinoma?
Posted: Wednesday, January 27, 2021
The risk for developing ovarian cancer following treatment with assisted reproductive technology may be better associated with nulliparity than the therapeutic intervention, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Therefore, “the increased risk of borderline ovarian tumors after assisted reproductive technology must be interpreted with caution,” explained Flora E. van Leeuwen, PhD, of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, and colleagues.
“Our study is the first to examine whether unsuccessful assisted reproductive technology cycles carry a different risk of ovarian tumors than successful cycles, hypothesizing that childbirth after assisted reproductive technology might counteract any risk increase from assisted reproductive technology,” the study authors commented.
A total of 30,625 women who received assisted reproductive technology therapy between 1983 and 2000 and 9,988 subfertile women were recruited for the study. Patient data were collected until 2018 utilizing the Netherlands Cancer Registry and the Dutch Pathology Registry to evaluate invasive and borderline ovarian tumors' development.
The study findings identified a total of 258 invasive (n = 158) and borderline (n = 100) ovarian tumors. Patients who received assisted reproductive technology demonstrated an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer compared with the general population (standardized incidence ratio = 1.43). However, when these patients were compared with subfertile women, an increased risk for ovarian carcinoma was not revealed (hazard ratio = 1.02). Furthermore, the authors reported a decreased risk for ovarian carcinoma in patients with higher parity and an increased number of successful assisted reproductive technology sessions (P < .01). Moreover, the risk for the development of borderline ovarian tumors increased in women who received assisted reproductive technology intervention compared with subfertile women (hazard ratio = 1.84) and the general population (standardized incidence ratio = 2.20).
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit academic.oup.com.
