IVF and Breast Cancer

[Janine]

Some information about the risk of breast cancer when undergoing IVF treatment:
Cancer incidence after infertility and IVF - A summary of findings from a study of cancer in women in the Monash IVF program from the The Australian Infertility Support Group website.
In-Vitro Fertilization Not Linked To Cancer Risk from the American Cancer Society website.
To summarize - From the Monash IVF website - Considerations & Risks:
The findings provide reassurance that the incidence of breast and ovarian cancers in IVF patients are the same as that for women of the same age in the general population when considered over a five to ten-year period.
While there was no overall increase, the occurrence of above expected numbers of breast cancer in the first year after treatment is consistent with other research showing a small increase in diagnoses of breast cancer shortly after women give birth. The same effect has been seen in recent users of The Pill and hormone replacement therapy. Possible explanations for this finding after IVF treatment include earlier detection of abnormal breast changes due to close medical supervision, the biological effects of fertility drugs, or both.