Large New Study Shows No Link Between IVF And Breast Cancer

There's good news for the many women who have asked their fertility specialist over the years whether there's a link between in vitro fertilization (IVF) and an increased risk of breast cancer. Since IVF involves a temporary increase in hormones - five to ten times higher than normal including hormones that can impact the growth of specific types of breast cancer - it's a fair question. Now, results from the largest, most comprehensive study to date just published in JAMA show no population-wide link. This confirms research of the past few years and counters a few small, earlier studies that concluded otherwise. It is confusing. Various studies over the past ten years have also shown no link between breast cancer and IVF but experts remained cautious as women participating in the research who had IVF treatment during the 1980s had not yet reached menopause. For the latest research "The main takeaway is there's no evidence of an increased subsequent risk of breast cancer, at least in the first couple decades," said Dr. Saundra S. Buys, an oncologist at the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, who was not involved in the new study. The issue has been around for a while fueled by earlier studies with differing results. An analysis in 2013 of eight studies concluded tentatively that IVF did "not raise the risk of breast cancer over all." Still, experts worried that looking at larger numbers of women over a much longer period of time could still reveal a link....
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news