OVARIAN-CANCER AND MEDICALLY ASSISTED REPRODUCTION

Case reports and epidemiologic studies have recently indicated a possi ble link between ovarian stimulation, ovarian cancer and ovarian tumou rs. We sent a questionnaire to 116 French IVF centers to determine whe ther ovarian cancer had occured in women treated during the last 10 ye ars. The 19 cases of ovarian cancer reported have since been studied m ore thoroughly in a follow up questionnaire. Six can now be excluded, and the 13 remaining cases are compared. Five of these patients had fe wer than 4 stimulation cycles here. Imputability was considered probab le for 2 patients, possible for 5 patients, improbable for 3 and highl y improbable for 3. Histologically, 6 (46 %) cases involved borderline lesions. These results indicate that there is no need to change medic al practice, but we are convinced that prospective epidemiologic resea rch should be carried out immediately.