A recent study conducted by Karolinska Institutet in Sweden has revealed that a common drug used to protect the ovaries of women undergoing chemotherapy does not increase their chances of having children after cancer treatment.
The study’s findings challenge previous beliefs and highlight the need for more rigorous research in this area.
The drug in question, known as GnRH agonists, is sometimes administered to women with breast cancer and other cancer types during chemotherapy in the hope of preventing amenorrhea (absence of menstrual periods) and preserving fertility.
However, the use of GnRH agonists has been based on limited evidence from small trials, which did not assess the likelihood of having children after cancer treatment.
Moreover, these previous studies were not blinded, meaning that participants knew whether they received the drug or not.
This lack of blinding could have led to biased results, as women who received the drug may have been more motivated to try to conceive compared to those who did not.
To address these limitations, the new study utilized data from Swedish population-based registers and analyzed nearly 25,000 women aged 15–45 who underwent chemotherapy. Among them, 1.5% received additional treatment with a GnRH agonist.
The researchers compared the probability of post-cancer live births between the two groups, taking into account factors such as age, cancer type, and previous parity.
The study’s results revealed that there was no significant difference in the likelihood of having children during the follow-up years after cancer treatment between the two groups, challenging the current practice of using GnRH agonists as a fertility preservation measure for women with cancer.
Kenny Rodriguez-Wallberg, adjunct professor at the Department of Oncology-Pathology at Karolinska Institutet and the study’s first author, emphasized the significance of the study, stating,
“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 protective measure in women with cancer.”
Frida Lundberg, research specialist at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet and the study’s last author, called for more rigorous placebo-controlled and double-blinded randomized clinical trials to evaluate the effectiveness of such drugs for fertility preservation.
These trials are essential to provide clearer insights into the impact of GnRH agonists on fertility outcomes after cancer treatment, helping to guide healthcare decisions for women facing this challenging situation.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that a low-carb diet could increase overall cancer risk, and vitamin D supplements could strongly reduce cancer death.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about how drinking milk affects the risks of heart disease and cancer and results showing higher intake of dairy foods linked to higher prostate cancer risk.
The research findings can be found in eClinicalMedicine.
Copyright © 2023 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
