The effects of letrozole on ovarian stimulation for fertility preservation in cancer-affected women

Survival rates for fertile women with cancer have increased significantly, lending importance to considering the possibility of motherhood after cancer. This study was a retrospective analysis of a prospective database comparing two groups of patients who underwent fertility preservation after being diagnosed with either breast cancer or a non-hormone-dependent cancer between 2009 and 2011. Nineteen oncology patients were included in the study. The objective was to assess the efficacy of ovarian stimulation with aromatase inhibitors versus a standard antagonist protocol. This study sought to quantify oestradiol concentrations in patients receiving letrozole and to determine the length of time between diagnosis of malignancy and onset of fertility preservation. Number of mature oocytes retrieved in the non-hormone-dependent cancer group was comparable to that in the breast cancer group (15.4 ± 8.19 versus 16.3 ± 7.31). Oestradiol concentrations were higher for patients with non-hormone-dependent cancer (1666.4 ± 739.42 pg/ml versus 829 ± 551.11 pg/ml, P = 0.006). There were no differences between the groups in the length of time between diagnosis and fertility preservation (17.4 ± 4.93 versus 16.4 ± 1.74 days). Oestradiol concentrations of breast cancer patients on the letrozole protocol remained much lower than those of patients on the antagonist protocol. © 2012, Reproductive Healthcare Ltd.