Link between Fertility Drugs and Cancer

Sheila · 05-25-2006, 06:24 AM

Just wondering if anyone saw the report on the possible link between cancer and fertility drugs such as Clomid....it seems the highest incidence would be ovarian, as Clomid stimulates the ovaries, but they are now questioning whether or not it could be linked to breast cancer due to the estrogens produced.

I remember a while back there was a post on fertility drugs...I took them for over a year, Clomid (triple doses) and HCG injections....that was 31 years ago, and I was blessed with twin girls....I am ER PR neg, so I don't know how that factors in.

Seems they are learning new things daily about future side effects of fertility agents.

brittd01 · 05-25-2006, 10:07 AM

I would be interested to know about this too. As you may know, my Mom was diagnosed at 54 with bc mets to liver. Hers is her2+ and er/pr-. I am 30 and on my fourth round of clomid and hcg injections. My doctor knows of my Moms bc and doesn't seem a bit concerned, which of course concerns me!!

Britt

R.B. · 05-25-2006, 10:10 AM

I guess the bod's mechanisms are like a giant "cats cradle". Pull one bit and it impacts to a greater or lesser extent through the whole.

I have no looked at fertility at all except in so par as it links to fats.

Fats are linked to fertility and reporduction from what I read in lots of ways. And I am seeing more and more links between oestrogen and fats.

RB

Sheila · 05-25-2006, 10:15 AM

Britt
The opinions varied widely from Dr's making women sign consents before taking Clomid saying it COULD increase the risk of cancer in the future to Dr's denying any risk at all...makes you wonder, kind of like Phen Phen, Celebrex etc...who knows what correlation will be found in the future.
My Mom also had BC, but developed it at 60 and was ER PR Pos. I was 50 when diagnosed and ER PER neg.

sabpri · 05-25-2006, 12:11 PM

Just my own theory. I did lots of it to get pregnant, Clomid, Hormone Injections and 2 in-vitro fertilizations (have a beautiful 4 year old and 2 year old twins from it!) and then Progesterone shots to help sustain pregnancy in the beginning. I am BRCA 2+ so I am sure that is why I have BC, but I feel in my gut that I probably got the BC sooner than I normally would have since I took the meds. My Onc agrees "off-record" that there is a link, as she has seen an increase in women who did fertility meds coming in with BC at an earlier age. My lump appreared within 1 year of my twins being born.

Just my 2 cents. Wouldn't change having my kids for the world, even if it meant getting the BC!

Natalie

John21 · 05-26-2006, 07:45 AM

I posted this a while ago. I still believe it is the cause of my wifes cancer. She went through a couple years of those drugs including Lupron and others I cannot remember any more. Many responded, and I think you will find a high percentage of the people took some sort of fertility drugs. Not for one minute though does my wife and I regret our twin boys. They are the best gift ever!!

John

Bev · 05-26-2006, 08:43 PM

It may have nothing to do with anything, but I sometimes wonder if just carrying twins is enough to tip the hormonal balance unfavorably. ( I have boys aka bad and badder).Still there's no common thread for all of us. What gives? BB

DiDi70 · 08-23-2010, 05:06 PM

My tumour appeared when I was on fertility drugs and my estrogen level was through the roof. However, my tumour is ER/PR negative. My husband believes that the 3 rounds of IVF drugs that I took caused the tumour and I am starting to believe that myself. I haven't been able to find any clinical evidence to support the theory. I was diagnosed at age 39.

ElaineM · 08-23-2010, 09:35 PM

I thought about Elizabeth Edwards (former second lady of the U. S.)when the report came out. She took fertility drugs to have her youngest children and she and John Edwards lost their child. She was diagnosed with breast cancer too.

Jean · 08-24-2010, 06:16 PM

Sheila,
Thank you for posting this....I think we will continue to discover the many kick backs from many drugs.

Sheila · 08-25-2010, 04:57 AM

I am amazed that this 4 year old post has resurfaced...but I am still wondering if there is a relationship between the 2!

das · 08-25-2010, 06:22 AM

I have a slightly different question - I was given relatively high doses of estrogen when I was 13 to try to stop my growth (my mom thought I would be too tall to get a date). I had these hormones for about a year to bring on my period and keep it going. There has been research published associating the hormone treatment during adolescence with a longer time to achieving pregnancy but not anything with breast cancer. Any one with any thoughts on this?

v-ness · 10-01-2010, 10:08 AM

hi das - i am astonished that your mom would have gotten you estrogen at age 13! i was 'too tall' too and my mom used to say i had too many muscles (arms - tossing bales of hay and horse grain) to get a date, but i never even got allergy pills nevermind estrogen! what era did this occur in? i would be just as curious as you about the cause and effect re: breast cancer, that's for sure.

also interested in the clomid thread. my niece is named Chloe *because* of clomid! her mom took it to get pregnant and now poor chloe has that in her history as well as her grandmother's ovarian cancer and my breast and her grandfather's breast. her sister was carried while my sister-in-law was on Paxil and sure enough has a hole in her heart. i never wanted a kid, but in this day and age i wouldn't take a damn thing if i was pregnant unless my life depended on it.

valerie

Mary Anne in TX · 10-01-2010, 11:11 AM

Sheila, my story is almost the same as you, except no twins! ma

Lien · 10-02-2010, 02:42 PM

I'm interested in the link between taking hormones to stop one's growth and BC. I took hormones for two years (age 14 - 16) because I hated the way I looked. I was 5.9 and weighed 106 pounds, so I was really skinny. Now I stopped at 5.11 in stead of 6.2. I would be ok with that now, but when I was 14 I really felt like a freak.

I have wondered about the chance that it could have influenced my developing BC.

Hmm. Glad my Mom is no longer around to have to struggle with that. She would have felt very guilty for letting me take those pills if she'd found out.

Jacqueline

DiDi70 · 10-02-2010, 03:15 PM

I asked my Oncologist a few weeks ago if he thought it would be okay for me to have a hormone-assisted transfer of my embryos to my uterus next year. He told me this: "My answer isn't scientific, but my preference would be for you to not get pregnant and to not use hormones." There is very little research done on the link between hormones and Her2 breast cancer which is estrogen and progesterone receptor negative, but I have been told that the research in that area is being stepped up as there appears to be some thinking that hormones may indeed play a role in Her2.

Who knows though? Hardly a day passes by without something new being linked to cancer.

das · 10-02-2010, 08:43 PM

Hi Jacqueline, I don't think any research has been done on 'us tall girls' treated with hormones. If you see any let me know and I will let you know. Thanks

3twins · 10-03-2010, 12:37 PM

My bc appeared 2 years after my twins were born. I went through 6 yrs of fertility tx including 3 IVF's. I feel in my gut that there has to be a link, although my onc said there are no studies to support that. I wouldn't have done anything different, but it would be incredibly beneficial if studies were conducted.

das · 10-03-2010, 12:58 PM

3twins - I am curious about the 9 weeks of herceptin, most posts that I see the women get 1 year (me included). Did you doctor say anything about it? I have read that the 9 weeks was very successful in the FinHer study.

Jackie07 · 10-03-2010, 02:47 PM

Seems there's a thread about the same subject a year or two ago.

I went through 3 rounds of infertility treatment in 1999 after having an 'OK' MRI for my brain tumors. Didn't get anything except three uterine fibroids that were found a couple of years later. Then I was given the birth control pills to 'control' the fibroids.

A little more than three years later, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Judging by the mitotic rate, the cancer was thought (by my surgeon) to have grown for 2 1/2 years. The first thing my gynecologist told me to do was to quit taking my birth control pills [because my BC was tested weakly ER+?]

I know my BC and the sudden flaring up of my brain tumors had something to do with environment - having been poisoned at work by the smelly (tar?) roof after repair work was done in summer, 2000. But the fact that my BC recurrence was considered ER- tells me the infertility treatment might have something to do with it even though the injection I'd received was probably containing mostly progesteron.

The fact that infertile women and women who have children at later age (after taking infertility agent?) are at higher risks of breast cancer might explain some part of it. Women who are taking infertility drugs are obviously either childless or having children at older age. Below is the statistic of BC risk related to the age of first child birth (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/f...st-cancer-risk):

Age at first live birth. Risk depends on age at first live birth and family history of breast cancer, as shown in the following table of relative risks.

Relative Risk of Developing Breast Cancer*

Age at first ____# of affected relatives
live birth

_______________0____ 1______2 or more

20 or younger___ 1____ 2.6____ 6.8

20–24_________ 1.2___2.7_____5.8

25–29 or no child_1.5___2.8_____4.9

30 or older______1.9___2.8_____4.2

For women with 0 or 1 affected relative, risks increase with age at first live birth. For women with 2 or more first degree relatives, risks decrease with age at first live birth.
* Adapted from Table 1, Gail MH, Brinton LA, Byar DP, Corle DK, Green SB, Shairer C, Mulvihill JJ: Projecting individualized probabilities of developing breast cancer for white females who are being examined annually. J Natl Cancer Inst 81(24):1879–86, 1989. [PubMed Abstract]

...

* Barlow WE, White E, Ballard-Barbash R, Vacek P, Titus-Ernstoff L, Carney PA, Tice JA, Buist, DSM, Geller BM, Rosenberg R, Yankaskas BC, Kerlikowske K. Prospective Breast Cancer Risk Prediction Model for Women Undergoing Screening Mammography. Journal of the National Cancer Institute September 6, 2006; 17:Vol. 98.
Chen J, Pee D, Ayyagari R, Graubard B, Schairer C, Byrne C, Benichou J, Gail, MH. Projecting Absolute Invasive Breast Cancer Risk in White Women With Model That Includes Mammographic Density. Journal of the National Cancer Institute September 6, 2006; 17:Vol. 98.