ArticleFertility and sterility2015
Effects of fertility drugs on cancers other than breast and gynecologic malignancies.
Article in Fertility and sterility, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Fertility treatment and risk of non-gynecological cancer: a systematic review.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2026Pooled it
- Unraveling the controversy: exploring the link between sex hormones and skin cancers through a meta-analysis and systematic review.Archives of dermatological research · 2025Pooled it
- Fertility Drugs Associated with Thyroid Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.BioMed research international · 2018Pooled it
- Melanoma Cells Exposed to Clomiphene Citrate Respond With Cell Cycle Arrest and Reduced Invasiveness.Journal of applied toxicology : JAT · 2026Article
- PCOS and breast cancer risk: hormonal modulation and epidemiological trends.Reproductive health · 2026Review
- Fertility treatment and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma - results from a Danish population-based cohort study.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2025Article
- History of Infertility and Risk of Colorectal Cancer.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2024Article
- Infertility and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer in the women's health initiative.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2024Article
- Thyroid Cancer Prevalence, Risk Exposure, and Clinical Features Among Transgender Female Veterans.Journal of the Endocrine Society · 2024Article
- Exogenous Hormone Factors in Relation to the Risk of Malignant Melanoma in Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Cancers · 2022Review
- Effect of Exogenous Hormones and Reproductive Factors in Female Melanoma: A Meta-Analysis [Response to Letter].Clinical epidemiology · 2022Article
- Effect of Exogenous Hormones and Reproductive Factors in Female Melanoma: A Meta-Analysis [Letter].Clinical epidemiology · 2022Article
- Estrogen Receptors and Melanoma: A Review.Cells · 2019Review
- Article
- Do the Fertility Drugs Increase the Risk of Cancer? A Review Study.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2019Review
- The role of pregnancy, perinatal factors and hormones in maternal cancer risk: a review of the evidence.Journal of internal medicine · 2018Review
- Safety of clomiphene citrate: a literature review.Cytotechnology · 2018Review
- Use of fertility medications and cancer risk: a review and update.Current opinion in obstetrics & gynecology · 2017Review
- Cancer Risk in Women Treated with Fertility Drugs According to Parity Status-A Registry-based Cohort Study.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2017Article
- Polycystic ovary syndrome and risk of endometrial, ovarian, and breast cancer: a systematic review.Fertility research and practice · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo examine the relationship of ovulation-stimulating drugs to risk of cancers other than breast and gynecologic malignancies.
designRetrospective cohort study, with additional follow-up since initial report.
settingReproductive endocrinology practices. PATIENT(S): Among a cohort of 12,193 women evaluated for infertility between 1965 and 1988, a total of 9,892 women (81.1% of the eligible population) were followed through 2010, via passive and active (questionnaire) approaches. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for various fertility treatment parameters for select cancers. RESULT(S): During 30.0 median years of follow-up (285,332 person-years), 91 colorectal cancers, 84 lung cancers, 55 thyroid cancers, and 70 melanomas were diagnosed among study subjects. Clomiphene citrate (CC), used by 38.1% of patients, was not associated with colorectal or lung cancer risks, but was related significantly to melanoma (HR = 1.95; 95% CI: 1.18-3.22), and non-significantly to thyroid cancer risks (HR = 1.57; 95% CI: 0.89-2.75). The highest melanoma risks were seen among those with the lowest drug exposure levels, but thyroid cancer risk was greatest among the heavily exposed patients (HR = 1.96; 95% CI: 0.92-4.17 for those receiving >2,250 mg). Clomiphene citrate-associated risks for thyroid cancer were somewhat higher among nulligravid, compared with gravid, women, but did not differ according to distinct causes of infertility. Gonadotropins, used by only 9.7% of subjects, were not related to risk of any of the assessed cancers. CONCLUSION(S): Our results provide support for continued monitoring of both melanoma and thyroid cancer risk among patients receiving fertility drugs.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.