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. 2021 Sep 10;19(1):205.
doi: 10.1186/s12916-021-02081-7.

Reproductive issues in carriers of germline pathogenic variants in the BRCA1/2 genes: an expert meeting

Barbara Buonomo #  1 , Claudia Massarotti #  2   3 , Miriam Dellino  4 , Paola Anserini  5 , Alberta Ferrari  6 , Maria Campanella  7 , Mirosa Magnotti  8 , Cristofaro De Stefano  9 , Fedro Alessandro Peccatori  1 , Matteo Lambertini  10   11
Affiliations

Reproductive issues in carriers of germline pathogenic variants in the BRCA1/2 genes: an expert meeting

Barbara Buonomo et al. BMC Med. .

Abstract

Background: Healthy individuals and patients with cancer who are carriers of germline pathogenic variants in the BRCA1/2 genes face multiple reproductive challenges that require appropriate counseling and specific expertise.

Main body: On December 5th-7th, 2019, patient advocates and physicians with expertise in the field of reproductive medicine, fertility preservation, and oncology were invited to "San Giuseppe Moscati" Hospital in Avellino (Italy) for a workshop on reproductive management of women with germline pathogenic variants in the BRCA1/2 genes. From the discussion regarding the current evidence and future prospective in the field, eight main research questions were formulated and eight recommendations were developed regarding fertility, fertility preservation, preimplantation genetic testing, and pregnancy in healthy carriers and patients with cancer.

Conclusion: Several misconceptions about the topic persist among health care providers and patients often resulting in a discontinuous and suboptimal management. With the aim to offer patient-tailored counseling about reproductive issues, both awareness of current evidences and research should be promoted.

Keywords: BRCA; Cancer; Fertility; Oocyte cryopreservation; Ovarian reserve; Preimplantation genetic testing.

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Conflict of interest statement

Fedro A Peccatori received honoraria from Roche Diagnostic and Ipsen outside the submitted work. Matteo Lambertini acted as a consultant for Roche, AstraZeneca, Lilly, and Novartis and received speaker honoraria from Sandoz, Roche, Takeda, Pfizer, Lilly, and Novartis outside the submitted work. Fedro A Peccatori received honoraria from Roche Diagnostic and Ipsen outside the submitted work. All the other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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