Doctors in Sweden have shown for the first time that although endometriosis is associated with an increased risk of various cancers, this risk does not depend on the number of times women with the condition have given birth.

An international group of fertility specialists has developed an easy-to use mathematical formula that allows a personalised approach to ovarian stimulation therapy for women seeking fertility treatment. Clinical tests demonstrated that when clinicians used the formula (or algorithm) to calculate the best starting dose for each patient, both the number of oocytes retrieved and pregnancy rates rose.

For women at high risk of breast cancer, use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plus X-ray mammography for screening will detect more breast cancers than mammography alone, a new technology assessment has found. But the number of false positives —indicating a problem where none exists — will rise significantly also.

Women with at least three sites of cellular atypia in breast tissue are nearly eight times more likely than average women to develop breast cancer, according to findings of a Mayo Clinic Cancer Center-led study of women with atypical hyperplasia. The findings are published in the July 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Ovarian germ cell tumor patients treated with platinum-based chemotherapy and fertility-sparing surgery are likely to retain their menstrual function and reproductive ability, according to the largest and most comprehensive survey of survivors ever conducted.

The chances of developing breast cancer are to some extent inherited, but important new findings suggest survival also runs in the family. Research published in the online journal Breast Cancer Research suggests that if a woman succumbs to breast cancer her daughters or sisters are over 60 percent more likely to die within five years if they develop the disease.

The drug most commonly used to arrest preterm labor, magnesium sulfate, is more likely than another common treatment to cause mild to serious side effects in pregnant women, according to a study from researchers at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and Stanford University School of Medicine. Their findings suggest that, since the effectiveness of the two drugs appears similar, physicians should consider side effects more strongly when choosing which drug to prescribe.

Just under 150 Perth women have contributed to major international research at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research that has proved that the new Cervarix vaccine provides broader protection against cervical cancer.

Researchers have reported that breast masses shown on that are diagnosed as “probably benign” can be safely managed with imaging follow-up rather than biopsy, according to a study appearing in the July issue of Radiology.

Studies in female monkeys helped raise important questions about hormone therapy that were addressed in a Women’s Health Initiative study reported last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A woman’s mouth has a lot to say, even when it’s not talking. Things that alter the female body, such as prescription medications to help prevent diseases such as osteoporosis or depression, diabetes, or a vitamin deficiency, can affect a woman’s oral health, according to John Svirsky, DDS, MED, who will lead a discussion titled “Drugs I Have Known and Loved for Diseases That We Catch” during the 55th annual meeting of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) in San Diego.

Does air pollution have a bigger effect on the immune system of females than males? It did among mice exposed to ozone - a major component in air pollution that is known to negatively affect lung function - and then infected with pneumonia, as significantly more females died from the infection than males.