EPITHELIAL OVARIAN-CANCER, INFERTILITY AND INDUCTION OF OVULATION - POSSIBLE PATHOGENESIS AND UPDATED CONCEPTS

Numerous case-control, cohort studies, case reports and reviews have b een published during the last 5 years regarding the association betwee n infertility and induction of ovulation and epithelial ovarian cancer . Despite this amount of published material, final conclusions regardi ng direct linkage between these different aspects of infertility and o varian cancer, as well as any data relating to a putative pathogenetic mechanism, cannot be drawn. In this review we summarize the available data as well as update a previous review by Shoham published in 1994. We outline some of the information that has become available from bas ic research which may help to direct investigators to suitable clinica l research models that may eventually serve to clarify this enigma. Fi nally we share ideas that focus on specific high-risk cohorts.