Centre for Women's Health Research

Reproductive endocrinology & infertility

Laboratory head: Professor David Healy

Endometriosis and the associated risk of cancer
Endometriosis is a common gynaecological disease, affecting up to 15 percent of women between puberty and menopause. It causes chronic pelvic pain and is a leading cause of infertility. MIMR scientists working in the areas of reproductive endocrinology and infertility are focusing on the risk of gynaecological cancers later in life for women suffering from endometriosis.

Epidemiological cohort and case control studies are underway with women referred for i n vitro fertilisation ( IVF), who have endometriosis, in collaboration with national cancer registries and the National Death Index. They are comparing cancer rates with control subjects, and investigating whether endometriosis at 30 years of age increases a woman’s risk of cancer at 60 years.

Ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer kills more women than all other gynaecological cancers combined. One in eighty Australian women will contract ovarian cancer, and seventy percent of these women are post-menopausal.

Scientists and clinicians from the Centre for Women’s Health Research are involved in a collaborative study examining ovarian health postmenopausal women. This study involves vaginal ultrasound morphometry (three-dimensional ultrasound) and assessing endocrine markers for hormones such as activin and inhibin in healthy post-menopausal volunteers. While it is known that activin and inhibin are produced and secreted by women with ovarian cancer, further research is needed to understand the levels of these hormones in healthy women.

Assisted reproductive technologies
 IVF and other assisted reproductive technology (ART) programs do not report success in a consistent way. Doctors at the Centre for Women’s Health Research have defined new criteria for success to reflect delivery of healthy babies. The Birth Emphasizing Successful Singleton (BESST) statistic, examines birth at term gestation, per cycle of ART treatment commenced. The BESST statistic has now been internationally accepted as an important endpoint of ART care. Application of this BESST statistic shows IVF treatment results in a BESST statistic of approx 12% in a high-quality medical IVF program. ART programs around the world can now be properly compared.