Current practices in oncofertility counseling: updated evidence on fertility preservation and post-treatment pregnancies in young women affected by early breast cancer.

Introduction: Anticancer treatments have significantly contributed to increasing cure rates of breast cancer in the last years; however, they can also lead to short- and long-term side effects, including gonadotoxicity, and compromised fertility in young women. Oncofertility is a crucial issue for young patients who have not yet completed their family planning at the time of cancer diagnosis.

Areas Covered: This review aims to cover all the latest available evidence in the field of oncofertility, including the gonadotoxicity of currently adopted anticancer therapies in the curative breast cancer setting, the available strategies for fertility preservation and the feasibility of achieving a pregnancy following anticancer treatment completion.

Fertility and Pregnancy-Related Issues in Young Carriers With Breast Cancer.

Approximately 10% to 15% of breast cancer cases in young women are diagnosed in patients harbouring germline (g) pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants (PVs) in the BReast CAncer 1 () or BReast CAncer 2 () genes. Preclinical and clinical studies showed a potential negative effect of germline 1/2 (g) PVs on ovarian reserve and reproductive potential, even before starting anticancer therapies. The aim of this article is to summarize the current literature on the fertility potential of young g PVs carriers with breast cancer and the risk of gonadotoxicity associated with anticancer treatments.

Evaluation of the Gonadotoxicity of Cancer Therapies to Improve Counseling of Patients About Fertility and Fertility Preservation Measures: Protocol for a Retrospective Systematic Data Analysis and a Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Cytotoxic treatments such as chemo- and radiotherapy and immune therapies are required in cancer diseases. These therapies have the potential to cure patients but may also have an impact on gonadal function and, therefore, on fertility. Consequently, fertility preservation treatments such as freezing of gametes and gonadal tissue might be required.

High dose gonadotropin stimulation increases endometrial thickness but this gonadotropin induced thickening does not have an effect on implantation.

Introduction: Endometrial thickness <8 mm is related with lower pregnancy rates. This raises the question if endometrial thickness can be increased by gonadotropin stimulation to increase estradiol (E2) concentration and if such an artificial thickening of the endometrium has an effect on implantation. A model to address this question is the comparison of endometrial thickness and outcome parameters in conventional gonadotropin stimulated IVF (cIVF) compared to unstimulated natural cycle IVF (NC-IVF).