Credit: Nadezhda Moryak from Pexels
A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has found no evidence that a drug commonly used to protect the ovaries of women undergoing chemotherapy increases their chances of having children after cancer treatment. The study is published in eMedicineClinical.
Drugs called GnRH agonists are sometimes used in women with breast cancer and other types of cancer during their chemotherapy treatments, based on small trials suggesting they may prevent amenorrhea (absence of periods) and preserve fertility. However, these trials were unable to assess the chances of having children after cancer treatment.
Additionally, the studies were not blinded, meaning all participating women knew whether or not they were receiving the treatment. Those who received the drug may therefore have been more motivated to try to conceive than those who did not receive it.
The new study used Swedish population-based registries to compare the probability of live birth after cancer among nearly 25,000 women aged 15 to 45 who received chemotherapy, of whom 1.5% received additional treatment with a GnRH agonist.
The researchers found no difference in the likelihood of having children during the years of follow-up following cancer treatment between the two groups, after adjusting for factors such as age, cancer type and previous parity.
“Our study is the largest and most comprehensive to date on this topic and challenges the current practice of using GnRH agonist as a fertility protection measure in women with cancer,” says Kenny Rodriguez-Wallberg, assistant professor in the Department of Oncology-Pathology. , Karolinska Institutet and the first author of the study.
“More rigorous, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trials are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this type of medication for fertility protection,” adds the study’s final author, Frida Lundberg, a research specialist at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet. .
More information:
Kenny A. Rodriguez-Wallberg et al, Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) during chemotherapy and post-cancer childbirth – a national cohort study of 24,922 women diagnosed with cancer in Sweden, eMedicineClinical (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102335
Provided by the Karolinska Institute
Quote: New study questions effectiveness of drugs for ovarian protection during cancer treatment (December 8, 2023) retrieved December 8, 2023 from
This document is subject to copyright. Except for fair use for private study or research purposes, no part may be reproduced without written permission. The content is provided for information only.
