According to the findings of a painstaking study by the researchers of Danish Cancer Society, there is "no convincing association" between the use of fertility drugs and ovarian cancer. As such, the women who have undergone treatment for infertility have no tangible reason to worry that the fertility drugs they took might increase their risk for ovarian cancer!

The study, appearing in the latest issue of the journal BMJ Online First, aims at putting to rest the concerns about ovulation-stimulating and ovulation-regulating drugs raising the risk of ovarian cancer.

Lead researcher Allan Jensen, PhD, and colleagues conducted a long-stretched study to arrive at the final conclusion. Over the period
1963 to 1998, the researchers analyzed the medical records of 54,362 infertile women who underwent infertility treatment in Denmark clinics.

Adjusting for risk factors associated with ovarian cancer, the researchers studied the risk posed by four different fertility drugs - clomifene citrate; gonadotropins; human chorionic gonadotropin; and gonadotropin-releasing hormone - and, in general, found no increased risk for the cancer due to the use of any of the fertility drugs.

With the women tracked for an average of 16 years after treatment, Jensen opines that even though more research is required to substantiate the findings, the news is still heartening. He said: "If there were a strong association, we would definitely expect to see it by now, and we don't!"