Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists for prevention of chemotherapy-induced ovarian damage: prospective randomized study

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether GnRHa administration before and during combination chemotherapy for breast cancer could preserve posttreatment ovarian function in young women or not.

Design: Prospective randomized controlled study.

Setting: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mansura University Hospital, Mansura, Egypt.

Patient(s): Eighty patients with unilateral adenocarcinoma of the breast and with no metastasis who had undergone modified radical mastectomy or breast-conserving surgery plus full axillary lymph node dissection were included in the study. Patients were assigned randomly to receive combined GnRHa and chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone. One woman in each group dropped out.

Main outcome measure(s): Return of spontaneous menstruation and ovulation. Hormonal changes (FSH, LH, E(2), P) during and after the course of treatment.

Result(s): In the study group, 89.6% resumed menses and 69.2% resumed spontaneous ovulation within 3-8 months of termination of the GnRHa/chemotherapy cotreatment; 11.4% experienced hypergonadotrophic amenorrhoea and ovarian failure 8 months after treatment. In the control group (chemotherapy without GnRHa), 33.3% resumed menses and 25.6% resumed normal ovarian activity. The median FSH and LH concentrations, 6 months after completion of the GnRHa/chemotherapy cotreatment group, were significantly less than the control group. During the GnRHa/chemotherapy cotreatment the concentrations of FSH, LH, and P decreased to almost prepubertal levels. However, within 1-3 months after the last GnRHa injection, an increase in LH and FSH concentrations was detected, followed several weeks later in by an increase in P concentrations to within normal levels.

Conclusion(s): GnRHa administration before and during combination chemotherapy for breast cancer may preserve posttreatment ovarian function in women <40 years. Long-term studies are required.