Effect of letrozole added to gonadotropins in controlled ovarian stimulation protocols on the yield and maturity of retrieved oocytes

Abstract

We aimed to evaluate the effect of co-administration of letrozole and gonadotropins during ovarian stimulation on oocyte yield and maturation in breast cancer patients prior to chemotherapy. A retrospective cohort design was used comparing oocyte cryopreservation cycles among patients with breast cancer patients with other oncological indications and women undergoing elective oocyte cryopreservation. All patients were treated with GnRH antagonist protocol using GnRH agonist for final oocyte maturation. The breast cancer group was additionally treated with letrozole (5 mg/d) from the first day of treatment until the day of oocyte retrieval. The cohort included 418 patients: 145 breast cancer patients, 168 with other oncological indications, and 105 patients who chose to undergo elective oocyte cryopreservation. There were no significant differences among the groups in the number of retrieved oocytes or proportion of mature oocytes. On multivariate linear regression models, co-treatment with letrozole was not a significant factor for the number of retrieved oocytes or for oocyte maturation rate after controlling for age, body mass index (BMI), and FSH dose. We conclude that the addition of letrozole to gonadotropins does not increase the number of oocytes retrieved or the oocyte maturation rate.

摘要

我们旨在评价在控制性促排卵方案中来曲唑和促性腺激素联合应用对乳腺癌患者化疗前卵母细胞数量和成熟度的影响。采用回顾性队列设计, 比较乳腺癌患者和其他肿瘤适应症患者与其他女性选择性卵母细胞冷冻保存的卵母细胞冷冻周期。所有患者均采用GnRH拮抗剂方案, 应用GnRH激动剂进行最终卵母细胞成熟。乳腺癌组从治疗第1天起至取卵日加用来曲唑（5 mg/d）。队列包括418名患者：145名乳腺癌患者, 168名有其他肿瘤适应症的患者, 以及105名选择性卵母细胞冷冻保存的患者。各组间获卵数和成熟卵母细胞比例均无显着差异（P>0.05）。在多元线性回归模型中, 在控制年龄、体重指数（BMI）和FSH剂量后, 来曲唑共处理对获卵数和卵母细胞成熟率无显著影响。我们的结论是, 在促性腺激素中加入来曲唑并不能增加获得卵母细胞的数量, 也不能提高卵母细胞的成熟率。

The Chinese abstracts are translated by Prof. Dr. Xiangyan Ruan and her team: Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100026, China.

Keywords:

• Breast cancer
• fertility preservation
• letrozole
• oocyte maturation
• oocyte freezing

Disclosure statement

We declare that we do not have any financial disclosure information.