Effect of infertility treatment and pregnancy-related hormones on breast cell proliferation in vitro

Breast cancer development involves a series of mutations in a heterogeneous group of proto-oncogenes/tumor suppressor genes that alter mammary cells to create a microenvironment permissive to tumorigenesis. Exposure to hormones during infertility treatment may have a mutagenic effect on normal mammary epithelial cells, high-risk breast lesions and early-stage breast cancers. Our goal was to understand the association between infertility treatment and normal and cancerous breast cell proliferation.