Stage IVA ovarian cancer one year following the third In Vitro Fertilisation procedure

Ovarian cancer is the second biggest cause of gynaecological cancer related death in elderly women which is uncommon during reproductive age. We, herein present a thought-provoking case of an infertile woman who was diagnosed with stage IVA ovarian cancer just one year after the In Vitro Fertilisation cycles. A 37-year-old woman with secondary infertility who underwent three cycles of ovarian stimulation, had two grade II cleavage-stage embryos transferred, though they did not result in pregnancy in two years. During the IVF treatment, ovarian cyst puncture was performed and no malignant cells were observed. The following year, she suffered from abdominal pain with extremely elevated tumour markers and stage IVA ovarian carcinoma was confirmed by transabdominal operation. The patient underwent cytoreductive surgery and chemotherapy; however, she was insensitive to postoperative chemotherapy with poor CA 125. The case aroused high attention regarding safety of IVF including standardisation and close long-term follow-up.