Study clears fertility treatment of causing breast cancer
Fertility treatment does not increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, according to a study of more than 25,000 women with fertility problems in the Netherlands.The study will help to reassure patients concerned that the powerful doses of hormones that are part of fertility treatment might put them at risk of developing cancer in the future.At the beginning of an IVF treatment cycle, women are given a course of hormone drugs to stimulate their ovaries to produce more eggs than usual so that clinicians can produce several fertilised embryos in vitro. The treatment causes large spikes in oestrogen levels in the body. In theory this could promote the development of breast cancer, which is sensitive to the hormone. The Dutch study, carried out by Dr Alexandra van den Belt-Dousebout at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, examined patient records from all 12 IVF clinics in the country between 1980...
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