However, there were fears that some of the procedures used in IVF could raise the risk of cancer with the earliest IVF treatments initially linked to increased risks of breast cancer and ovarian tumours, although more recent studies have found no such evidence. IVF procedures include drugs to stimulate ovulation and puncturing the ovaries to retrieve eggs.
For those considering undergoing IVF or who have already been through the treatment, the results of the American study of Israeli women may put their minds at rest with regard to their risk of cancer.
The study was carried out by the Hormonal and Reproductive Epidemiology Branch of the National Cancer Institute in Maryland and the findings published in the journal Fertility & Sterility. The team analysed the medical records of more than 67,500 women who had had IVF treatment between 2004 and 2011 and almost 20,000 women who had gone for treatment but did not receive IVF.
The study concluded that there was no increased risk of a woman developing breast or endometrial cancer if she had received IVF. They did note that there was a slightly higher risk of ovarian cancer the more rounds of IVF that a woman went through but concluded that this finding may have been down to chance. There was no way of conclusively linking IVF and ovarian cancer in this particular study because the sample was too small.
However, as women seeking IVF treatment are already having problems with their ovaries, the risk of ovarian cancer may already be present without IVF. And because women seeking IVF are closely examined and monitored by their doctor, any sign of ovarian cancer would be picked up quickly.