Strategies to Maintain Fertility in Young Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most frequently occurring cancer in women of reproductive age. Treatments for breast cancer may eliminate or diminish fertility, making discussions about fertility preservation essential prior to initiation of gonadotoxic therapies. Additionally, even in patients who do not require chemotherapy, the use of adjuvant endocrine therapy will often push patients out of the reproductive window before treatment is completed. The only established methods for fertility preservation are oocyte or embryo cryopreservation, but experimental methods, such as ovarian suppression with GnRH agonists and ovarian tissue cryopreservation, show great promise. Early referral to a fertility specialist for interested patients affords patients the most fertility preservation options, with only minimal delay to cancer treatment.

Keywords: Fertility preservation; Oncofertility; Reproduction.