WITHThere is a fear that this auxiliary reproductive technology increases in women the probability of malignant diseases. We decided to check whether such fear is justified by scientific data.

The fact that IVF is associated with an increased risk of oncological diseases regularly write not only Media, but also profile resources. At the same time, different data are given, evaluating both the probability of such consequences and the degree of risk. So, on the website of the Kazakhstan "Portal of Information Support of Health Managers" Approved: “In women of any age who became pregnant after IVF, the probability of breast cancer is 10%higher”, and the publication on the ONCOLOGY.ru website reports About the risk of breast cancer after IVF from 10% to 31%. Sites write about increasing the risk of ovarian cancer by 37% Multidisciplinary diagnostic center in Serpukhov, Israeli clinic "Hadassa" And Moscow surgeon, an oncologist Oganes Dilanian. But these are not the most frightening numbers: Tomsk.ru news portal reports: “Women who first gave birth after IVF at the age of 40 and older have a 65% higher risk of breast cancer than with independent conception at the same age.”

Extracorporeal fertilization (IVF) is method Therapy with infertility, which gives a chance to become parents of pairs experiencing difficulties with conception. IVF includes high -tech procedures, the purpose of which is to obtain and fertilize the eggs outside the body. IVF procedure was first successful Conducted In 1978, in the UK, when Louise Brown was born - the world's first child from a test tube.

Modern eco consists of From several key stages. First, the doctor conduct a complete medical examination of the pair, including analyzes and ultrasound, then with the help of hormonal drugs they stimulate the maturation of several eggs. On the 13–15th day of the cycle, the ultrasound control is taken by the eggs of the ovaries. They are placed in a special environment with processed sperm for natural fertilization, or the ICSI method (intracitoplasmic injection of sperm) is used. Fertilized eggs develop in the incubator for three to five days and become embryos. Those that have the greatest potential for implantation in external morphological characteristics are transferred to the uterine cavity using a thin catheter. After that, a woman is prescribed hormonal drugs to support pregnancy.

The probability of pregnancy after the procedure eco varies and depends on many factors: the age of the woman, the causes of infertility, the quality of eggs and sperm. On average, the possibility of successful conception during IVF is from 20% to 50% For one attempt, but this number can vary, and significantly. In women under 35 years old, the chances are higher, while for women over 40 years of age, efficiency decreases.

The greatest fear in terms of increasing the risk of oncological diseases accompanies precisely the stage of hormonal stimulation, target which is to cause hyperovulation, that is, the simultaneous ripening of several eggs in one menstrual cycle. This procedure increases the possible number of attempts to cause pregnancy. Typically, only one egg matures in the natural cycle, but for IVF it is needed more, since not all eggs can be fertilized and not all embryos will develop properly.

Exists some groups Hormonal drugs that doctors use to stimulate ovulation, as well as several protocols different in terms of the duration of the protocols. The first group of such substances is gonadotropins, drugs containing follicle -stimulating (FSH) and luteinizing (LH) hormones. As a second drug, clomiphen is usually used, it inhibits the effect of estrogen and stimulates its own FSH production. Finally, when the eggs are ready to exit the follicles (usually 36–34 hours before the puncture puncture), the woman is injected with a human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) - he launches ovulation.

The body itself produces FSH, LH and hCG, they do not provoke the directly growth of malignant neoplasms, but the hormones associated with them estrogen and progesterone really can Participate in the development of cancer: carcinomas of the mammary gland, ovaries, uterus and prostate gland. In addition, many ovarian puncture is alarming in the IVF procedure, since even a slight trauma in the theory can contribute to the degeneration of cells.

Although eco and a relatively new procedure, doctors carefully study its safety. In 2016, a team of researchers from the Netherlands I down The results of the 23-year observation of 25,000 women. Some of the studied turned to the IVF procedure due to infertility, others tried to conceive a child with other methods. Data on the frequency of breast cancer among these patients was compared with information from a nationwide oncorestra. It turned out that this type of malignant neoplasms was equally common in a group of patients who passed IVF (an average of 3.6 cycles for each woman), and in a group of women who treated infertility in other ways, and in the whole population.

Even larger sample It turned out At the disposal of Greek scientists - they analyzed medical cards of 1.5 million women. Of these, almost 15,000 were diagnosed with breast cancer, only 576 patients from these 15,000 took place of Eco Protocols.

However, eco Maybe Even protect women from breast cancer, although not directly. Breastfeeding is associated with a decrease in the risk of this pathology - on average, each year of lactation reduces the likelihood of getting 4%, and in the carriers of the BRCA1 mutation (determines the hereditary predisposition to cancer of the mammary gland and ovaries, which is extremely aggressive) - as much as 37%.

In 2018, British scientists Studied A 19-year set of information about 255,786 women resorting to IVF. These women were less susceptible to breast cancer - 2578 cases of such a pathology were recorded against 2641.2 expected according to population statistics. Also among them there were fewer cases of invasive breast cancer (2272 versus 2371.4), but a little more than the same cancer in Situ (the so -called zero stage, or the forerunner, when malignant cells are divided at the same speed, that is, the tumor has no potential to increase in size) - 291 versus 253.5. Nevertheless, women who passed the IVF procedure were more prone to uterine cancer (164 cases against 146.9) and ovarian cancer (405 versus 291.82).

However, the last set of numbers does not look so frightening in absolute numbers. “Ovarian cancer is not a very common tumor, in absolute numbers this increase is five additional cases for 100,000 women per year,” - Explains Oncogynecologist Pavel Sorokin. Moreover, the increased risk of ovarian tumors was mainly limited by women with endometriosis. This disease, on the one hand, often causes infertility, on the other hand, its connection was discovered with ovarian cancer. In women undergoing the IVF procedure due to their own infertility, the cause of which doctors could not detect, or because of various problems from the man, there was no such increase in risk. Moreover, an endured pregnancy associated With a reduced risk of ovarian cancer, so in the case of infertility due to endometriosis, the pregnancy occurs as a result of the use of auxiliary reproductive technology (ART) can also have a protective effect.

Having studied 40,000 women who have passed through IVF, Dutch scientists notedthat the technology increases the risk of ovarian cancer slightly: for women over 55 years old - from 0.2% (average risk of population) to 0.3%. In addition, the risk does not depend on the number of IVF attempts. Scientists suggest that the risk of malignant neoplasm is not raising the protocol itself, but what has led to it, that is, the cause of infertility. Meta analysis 2024, conducted in the UK, included 188 studies on the connection of the CBT (hormonal stimulation of the ovaries separately or together with IVF, as well as intra -cytoplasmic sperm injection) with cancer pathologies of the female reproductive system. Scientists also discovered a slightly more increased risk of ovarian cancer in some studies, however, according to them, these connections have not yet have sufficient confirmation and explanation.

In 2019, Iranian scientists Spent Metaalism 81 of a published article that studied the effect of drugs for hormonal stimulation on the risk of various cancer. Scientists were interested in pathologies such as the carcinoma of the mammary gland, ovaries, endometrium, uterus, cervix, colon, thyroid gland, skin and non -landing lymphoma. Researchers did not find evidence that the drugs used as part of the IVF protocol increase the risk of at least one of these diseases. Similar Meta analysis, carried out on the basis of the University of California (USA), also did not demonstrate an increased risk of thyroid cancer, colon, cervix or melanoma after IVF. Also No Even the theoretical connection between IVF and the tumors of the brain, since this group of pathologies does not apply to hormone -dependent, and therefore, there is not even a potential mechanism of influence.

At the same time, the connection of IVF with undesirable effects for both the mother and the fetus really are. For example, 2024 meta -analysis as a consequence of such a conception Notes The improper position of the fetus in the uterus, which can complicate the process of childbirth or make vaginal birth impossible. Another meta -analysis demonstratesthat in children conceived with the help of ARTs, higher the risk of congenital urogenital development defects and malformations of the musculoskeletal system. In addition, both the IVF procedure and the circumstances caused by its need, can be associated with a number of epigenetic anomalies in the fetus. Therefore, it is not necessary to consider the STR as safe as the natural conception.

Thus, there is no sufficient data to confirm the fear that IVF significantly increases the risk of cancer. The pregnancy itself (regardless of whether the conception was natural or occurred with the help of ART), like breastfeeding after it, is accompanied by a reduced risk of a number of malignant neoplasms. Some studies show that in women who have passed through IVF, cancer risk may be higher. But scientists emphasize that, most likely, the reason lies not in the procedure itself, but in the factors that caused infertility.

Image on the cover: Image by Marjon Besteman from Pixabay