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Infertility is associated with a Higher risk of developing cancer in women of childbearing age, say researchers including one of Indian-origin. The findings, published in the journal Human Reproduction, showed that infertile women had an overall 18 per cent higher risk of developing cancer compared to women who were not infertile. However, the absolute risk is very low at just two per cent compared to 1.7 per cent among women who are not infertile, found researchers at Stanford University in the US. "We do not know the causes of the increase in cancer that we found in this study, whether it might be the infertility itself, the causes of the infertility, or the infertility treatment," said lead author Gayathree Murugappan. "We can only show there is an association between them," she added. For the study, the team analysed data from 64,345 infertile women who were followed for nearly four years. Read Complete Article

A recent study saw scientists trying to explain the importance of a gene in regulating the production of fully-functioning sperm. For the first time, experts have identified the role of the gene, RBMXL2, which is very similar to a possible infertility gene found on the Y chromosome found only in men. This provided a model for the team to manipulate as the Y chromosome itself is very difficult to analyse. The study, published today in the Journal of eLife, sheds light on why some men may be infertile as RBMXL2 has been shown to be essential to make sperm. Scientists found that deleting the RBMXL2 gene from chromosome 11 blocked sperm production and this paves the way for further exciting research in this area. " Male infertility is a poorly understood topic, and this study helps us to understand why some men might become infertile. This is important since many couples suffer from infertility and it can cause psychological stress, and also have economic conseq...