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. 2019 May;34(5):499-507.
doi: 10.1007/s10654-018-0474-9. Epub 2019 Jan 9.

The risk of breast and gynecological cancer in women with a diagnosis of infertility: a nationwide population-based study

Frida E Lundberg  1 , Anastasia N Iliadou  2 , Kenny Rodriguez-Wallberg  3 , Kristina Gemzell-Danielsson  4 , Anna L V Johansson  2   5
Affiliations

The risk of breast and gynecological cancer in women with a diagnosis of infertility: a nationwide population-based study

Frida E Lundberg et al. Eur J Epidemiol. 2019 May.

Abstract

Some studies have suggested that infertility is a risk factor for endometrial, ovarian and breast cancer. The study aimed to create a comprehensive picture of the association between infertility and the risk of ovarian, endometrial and breast cancer, and whether any association could be explained by ovulatory disturbances, endometriosis or nulliparity. In a population-based cohort of 2,882,847 women, cox regression analysis was used to investigate cancer incidence among infertile women. Overall, infertility was associated with a higher incidence rate of ovarian (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.53, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.38-1.71) and endometrial cancer (aHR 1.25, 95% CI 1.11-1.40), but not of breast cancer (aHR 0.96, 95% CI 0.92-1.01). Ovarian cancer incidence was higher in women diagnosed with endometriosis, and in nulliparous women with ovulatory disturbances, compared to women with none of the diagnoses. Endometrial cancer incidence was higher in women with ovulatory disturbances, but not in women with endometriosis. These findings suggest that infertility could have long-term consequences of importance to physicians and public health workers.

Keywords: Anovulation; Cancer; Endometriosis; Infertility; Polycystic ovary syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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