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Group admin:: RobinWolaner
Created:: October 30, 2007
: 37 Members

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breast cancer, body & mind, health, cancer

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infertility treatment and breast cancer

Posted: Jun 16, 08 11:47am

Dear members of Faces of Breast Cancer,

I was diagnosed two and a half years ago at the age of 47 and treatments (two major surgeries and chemo) took a year. According to my family and friends I now look healthy again. It takes a long time before the body gets rid of all the toxins from chemotherapy.

About ten years ago I had fertility treatment and suspect there is a connection between this treatment and getting cancer. I am curious if other members had fertility treatments in the past or know of people who had fertility treatment and later got breast cancer. Looking around in my neck of the woods there are lots and lots of women who had both. It bugs me that doctors are so evasive about this. Research has shown a correlation between Hormone Replacement Therapy and a higher risk of breast cancer; it has also shown a correlation between pregnancies late in life, early menses and late menopause (high level of and/or long exposure to estrogen), but nobody openly warns about fertility treatment and cancer. Given that the drugs taken trigger a so-called superovulation and cell growth the connection doesn't seem far fetched to me.

I don't think of it as a simple cause-effect relation. Our bodies are complex and there are many genetic and environmental factors at play. However, I think of it as the infamous straw and an open discussion about it might help other women who are considering fertility treatment. Would I have given up fertility treatment if a doctor had warned me about a possible higher risk of breast cancer? I cannot tell. But we all deserve the information on which to base our decisions!

Any and all comments are welcome.

Best,

Mausekoenig

Tags:

breast cancer, health, fertility treatment, body & mind

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3 Comments // 3 Members

Linda Shearer

Posted: Jun 21, 08 12:07pm

Hi M.

I read your post, I cannot personally comment on this as I have no knowledge on this subject. But I offer this response from someone who worked in an office relating to this field for several years (Be advised that this person is NOT a Doctor).

I copy & paste this in from an email reply to my inquiry based on your question.:

"The reason she has not heard anything regarding this is because there are no sequential (and significant) studies relating the two. For every study that shows a possibility of a link there is a study showing no evidence of correlation. I have been to many lectures and seminars over the years and the general consensus is that there is no definitive link. And actually, being nulliparous (never pregnant) can impose a risk for breast cancer as well, so you need to weigh the pros and cons of infertility treatment, as you would with any medical treatment. Women who are anovulatory, (never ovulate on their own) and seek infertility treatment have not had estrogen produced (since is made by the developing egg) and are at risk for all the comorbities that go along with low estrogen, so again it is a risk vs benefit ratio.

Bottom line is, no consistent studies proving the relationship, and if a lot of women in her area have breast CA, maybe there is another cause (environmental?)

She should do a literature search on line, hopefully using scholarly research journals, not "webMD". Also, if you are in contact, give her ASRM.com website (American Society for Reproductive Medicine) , they have a "patient" link with educational stuff. (Very reputable website)."

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RobinWolaner

Posted: Jun 22, 08 3:00pm

I am not sure there is a correlation between pregnancies late in life and breast cancer -- the data I have seen shows that no pregnancies before the age of 30 elevates risk as much as no pregnancies ever....I have not seen that an after-30-or-later pregnancy is worse than no pregnancies ever.

But the logic for a correlation between fertility treatments and cancer is there. I know the late Liz Tilberis attributed her ovarian cancer to aggressive fertility treatments. I haven't seen anything beyond anecdotal information, I hope this is being studied.

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mausekoenig

Posted: Jun 23, 08 10:42am

Dear Linda,

thank you so much for this comment. It is very helpful and sure enough much more informative than the one I got from the American Cancer society.

Thanks again, M.

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