Do Fertility Drugs Cause Cancer?

Back burner:

Writing again in the October Harper's Bazaar, Tilberis acknowledges that "we have no answers to the big questions that surround ovarian cancer"--including the proposed link with fertility drugs. "All I want is for women to ask the questions," she told NEWSWEEK--and to get thorough, regular gynecological examinations. Infertile women who have chosen to adopt a child may particularly need reminding, she warns. "They may put gynecological care on the back burner, probably because they're cross with those parts of their bodies that failed them." Beseareh on diseases affecting women has also long been on the hack burner, but that's finally changing. One of several new women's health studies funded by the National Institutes of Health will examine which fertility drugs are most hazardous and who is most at risk. For infertile women, that may eliminate at least one frightening uncertainty.

PHOTO: Tiberis; Urging women to 'ask the right questions'

PROFILE OF A DEADLY DISEASE

Ovarian cancer is Pare; breast cancer strikes seven times as many women. But it's particularly deadly, with an overall survival rate of 41 percent. These are the known risk factors for ovarian cancer:

Family history: