United States: New analysis reveals that youthful women who have survived breast cancer and contain the BRCA cancer genes and they really don’t have any increased threat of excrescence rush after witnessing fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization( IVF) or other procedures.
Research Insights
The question comes up because many assisted reproductive methods (ARTs) include a transient increase in estrogen, and breast tissue is very sensitive to hormones.
Expert Commentary
But according to research main author Matteo Lambertini, the new Italian study “provides the first evidence” that reproductive operations are safe for women with those versions of the BRCA1 and BRCA 2 genes that are known to increase chances for ovarian and breast malignancies.
Annual ESMO Meeting
He made his remarks in an ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology) news release. During ESMO’s annual meeting in Lugano, Switzerland, last week, Lambertini’s team presented their findings.
According to Lambertini, an associate professor of medical oncology at the University of Genova, the new findings “provide reassuring evidence for these women and their doctors to consider when discussing the risks and benefits of using ART to preserve their chances of having a baby following completion of anti-cancer therapies.”
According to the experts, women in their reproductive years who receive a breast cancer diagnosis frequently decide to store their eggs because certain treatments may cause them to enter an early menopause. But doing so frequently entails raising the amount of estrogen in the blood.
Study Background
“In the past, we have been concerned that raising hormone levels for fertility preservation methods prior to beginning treatment for breast cancer may raise the chance of cancer recurrence in the future,” said Lambertini.
His team investigated the problem by following data from 2000 to 2020 on around 5,000 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer at 40 years of age or younger and had BRCA1/2 mutations associated with the disease.
Comparative Analysis
The risk of a breast cancer recurrence was compared between 436 women who conceived spontaneously and 107 of these women who used ART to become pregnant.
The outcome showed that there was no difference in the two groups’ rates of recurrent breast cancer five years following a successful pregnancy.
Furthermore, there were no variations in pregnancy-related problems.
Study Scope and Limitations
The study discovered that the only difference between women who conceived spontaneously and those who used fertility treatments was that the former had fewer induced abortions and a higher rate of miscarriages.
The study cohort was small, as Lambertini pointed out, but it was a necessary evil because breast cancer in women under 40 is an uncommon disease, with only approximately one in six of those instances including BRCA genes.
He clarified, “We brought together centers from around the globe to gather data on this special group of patients.”
Additional Expert Views
Co-author of the study Ann Partridge holds the positions of vice president of medical oncology at the Dana- Farber Cancer Center in Boston and professor of drug at Harvard Medical School.
According to her, the new exploration” provides reassuring substantiation that using eggs or embryos from fertility preservation, pursuing fertility preservation before witnessing bone cancer treatment, or pursuing fertility preservation after surviving bone cancer, all appear to be safe from a cancer viewpoint and in terms of the baby’s outgrowth.”
These results should be regarded as primary until they’re published in a peer- reviewed publication because they were presented at a medical convention.