FERTILITY DRUGS AND OVARIAN-CANCER

Recent case reports of ovarian cancer associated with infertility trea tment raise the question of a possible etiopathogenetic role of fertil ity drugs in ovarian cancer. In this paper, the possible relationship between infertility treatment and ovarian cancer is reviewed with resp ect to the epidemiological and pathogenetic profiles of ovarian cancer and the potential risk factors associated with fertility drugs; a cas e report review and a critical reappraisal are also provided within th is article. Currently available data in the literature, from epidemiol ogical studies and case reports, suggest that a direct causal effect o f infertility treatment on ovarian cancer seems unlikely. Since infert ile women are likely to have a higher risk for the development of ovar ian cancer, and the role of fertility drugs in the etiopathogenesis of ovarian carcinoma is not established, a close clinical examination of infertile patients before, during and after infertility treatment is recommended. Moreover, further investigation is required to resolve th e question of the possible association between fertility drugs and ova rian cancer through large prospective epidemiological or retrospective case-control studies.