Ovarian cancer risk associated with varying causes of infertility

Brinton LA, Louise A. Brinton, Lamb EJ, Emmet J. Lamb, Moghissi KS, Kamran S. Moghissi, Scoccia B, Bert Scoccia, Althuis MD, Michelle D. Althuis, Jerome E Mabie, Mabie JE, Jerome Mabie, Westhoff CL, Carolyn Westhoff, Carolyn L Westhoff
Fertility and sterility · 2004 · vol. 82(2) , pp. 405–414 · doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2004.02.109 · PMID:15302291 · W2144721420
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 98 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-06 ⓘ

This study investigated the relationship between different infertility causes and ovarian cancer risk, finding specific associations for certain infertility types.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate the risk of ovarian cancer as related to underlying causes of infertility.DesignRetrospective observational cohort study.SettingFive large reproductive endocrinology practices.Patient(s)A total of 12,193 women evaluated for infertility between 1965 and 1988.Intervention(s)None.Main outcome measure(s)Ovarian cancer ascertained through 1999.Result(s)With 45 identified ovarian cancers, this cohort of infertility patients demonstrated a significantly higher rate of ovarian cancer than the general female population (standardized incidence ratio [SIR] = 1.98; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-2.6). The risk was higher for patients with primary infertility (SIR = 2.73) than for those with secondary infertility (SIR = 1.44), and it was particularly high for patients who never subsequently conceived (SIR = 3.33). Women with endometriosis had the highest risk (SIR = 2.48; 95% CI, 1.3-4.2), with a further elevated risk among those with primary infertility (4.19, 2.0-7.7). Comparisons among the infertile women, which allowed calculation of rate ratios (RRs) after adjustment for multiple factors, also showed links with endometriosis. Compared with women with secondary infertility without endometriosis, patients with primary infertility and endometriosis had a RR of 2.72 (95% CI, 1.1-6.7).Conclusion(s)Determination of ovarian cancer risk should take into account the type of infertility (primary vs. secondary) and underlying causes. Further study of endometriosis may provide insights into ovarian carcinogenesis.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

infertility

MeSH descriptors

Infertility, Female Ovarian Neoplasms Cohort Studies Female Follow-Up Studies Humans Infertility, Female Medical Records Ovarian Neoplasms Ovarian Neoplasms Retrospective Studies Risk Factors Survival Analysis Time Factors

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (52)

Cited by (50)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-09-09T06:15:24.302764+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:12:32.173627+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK