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. 2015 Dec;50(12):1551-6.
doi: 10.1038/bmt.2015.178. Epub 2015 Aug 3.

Prevalence of menstrual cycles and outcome of 50 pregnancies after high-dose chemotherapy and auto-SCT in non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin lymphoma patients younger than 40 years

S Akhtar  1 , I Youssef  2 , H Soudy  1 , T A M Elhassan  1 , S M Rauf  1 , I Maghfoor  1
Affiliations

Prevalence of menstrual cycles and outcome of 50 pregnancies after high-dose chemotherapy and auto-SCT in non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin lymphoma patients younger than 40 years

S Akhtar et al. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2015 Dec.

Abstract

Data are limited regarding the prevalence of menstrual cycles and pregnancies after high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) and auto-stem cell transplantation (SCT). Female patients who underwent HDC auto-SCT for non-Hodgkin and Hodgkin lymphoma (1997-2012) were reviewed. The selection criteria were as follows: (1) alive without disease 12 and 24 months after auto-SCT for menstrual cycles and pregnancy, respectively, (2) age <40 years at auto-SCT, and (3) no primary infertility. One-hundred and seventy-six females underwent single auto-SCT. Eighty-nine were eligible for menstrual cycles and pregnancy analysis. Median age at auto-SCT was 25 years (14-40 years), at pregnancy 27 years (20-37 years), median follow-up 65 months (range 24-190). Regular menstrual-cycles resumed in 56/89 patients (63%). Increasing age (P=0.02) and number of prior chemotherapy cycles (P=0.02) are associated with higher risk of amenorrhea. Forty patients tried to get pregnant, 26 (65%) became pregnant 50 times: 43 (86%) live birth, 7 (14%) miscarriage and 2/50 had birth defects. Twenty-four patients practiced breastfeeding (median duration 4 months (1-24 months)). Enough breast milk production was reported 62.5% vs 100% in those patients who did or did not receive above the diaphragm radiation therapy, respectively, (P=0.066). Our data highlights significantly higher than perceived incidence of menstrual cycle resumption, successful pregnancies and breastfeeding after HDC auto-SCT.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patient selection for study and outcome.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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