RANDOM START OVARIAN STIMULATION FOR FERTILITY PRESERVATION APPEARS UNLIKELY TO DELAY INITIATION OF NEOADJUVANT CHEMOTHERAPY FOR BREAST CANCER

Chemotherapy for breast cancer has typically been responsible for infertility and early menopause in cancer survivors. Such detrimental effects on reproductive health have been associated with decreased quality of life among these survivors. Having the ability to discuss one’s future reproductive potential prior to chemotherapy, as well as the ability to freeze oocytes or embryos for future use, have been associated with improvements in quality of life.

In today’s neoadjuvant chemotherapy setting, there is time pressure to start chemotherapy on breast cancer patients and leaves little time for fertility preservation. The American Society of Clinical Oncology recommends referral to a fertility specialist prior to gonadotoxic cancer treatment, such as neoadjuvant chemotherapy, in reproductive age women. The increased popularity of neoadjuvant chemotherapy necessitates a focus on how to most efficiently complete fertility preservation consultation and oocyte retrieval while minimizing cancer treatment delays.

Over the last several years there have been significant advances in ovarian stimulation techniques in an urgent setting, with studies showing that stimulations can start at any random point in the menstrual cycle with equal outcomes. Consequently, without the need to wait for the onset of next menses, egg or embryo cryopreservation can technically be accomplished within 2 weeks of consult. This study shows that one can reassure patients that random start ovarian stimulation appears unlikely to significantly delay the start of their chemotherapy.

To read the full article, please follow this link: https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/32/10/2123/4097745/Random-start-ovarian-stimulation-for-fertility