Fertility drugs have not definitively been linked to malignant melanoma. By use of data from a large nationwide cohort of women aged 20.0 to 45.0 years and living in Denmark between January 1, 1995 and December 31, 2011, we assessed the association between use of fertility drugs and risk of malignant melanoma. Information on fertility status and use of fertility drugs was obtained from the population-based Danish Infertility Cohort. Cox proportional hazard regression models were applied to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) with adjustment for potential confounders. The study population comprised 1,330,954 women of whom 86,231 (6.5%) were treated with fertility drugs. During a median follow-up of 21.0 years, 6,139 women were diagnosed with malignant melanoma. Compared with fertile women, infertile women who had used any fertility drugs had an increased risk of malignant melanoma (HR = 1.14; 95% CI: 1.02-1.27). Further, use of specific types of fertility drugs (clomiphene, gonadotropins, human chorionic gonadotropin, gonadotropin-releasing hormone and progesterone) were also associated with an increased risk of malignant melanoma with HRs ranging between 1.09-1.13, however not reaching statistical significance. Our findings indicate that use of fertility drugs was associated with a modestly increased risk of malignant melanoma.
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