Many women want to know if they'll be fertile after chemotherapy. Fertility after chemotherapy depends on two things: your age and the types and doses of chemotherapy medicines you get.
Your age: As every woman ages, her ovaries produce fewer fertile eggs. When you go into menopause, your ovaries stop making fertile eggs.
The types and doses of chemotherapy drugs you get: We know that certain chemotherapy medicines are more likely than others to cause infertility, including Cytoxan (chemical name: cyclophosphamide). Platinol (chemical name: cisplatin) and Adriamycin (chemical name: doxorubicin) carry a medium risk of losing fertility.
On the other hand, certain chemotherapy medicines are less likely to cause infertility:
The taxanes:
are a relatively new group of chemotherapy medicines. Few studies have been done on how these medicines may affect fertility and the results aren't clear yet.
Because research in this area is limited, it can be difficult to give an individual woman an accurate idea of her chances of keeping her fertility. It's a good idea to talk to your doctor, a fertility expert, or both about the potential risk of infertility with your chemotherapy treatment plan.
Here's what we do know:
Researchers are looking at ovarian suppression -- stopping ovarian function using medicine -- to help protect a woman's eggs during chemotherapy. But this is very controversial because there is limited information available.
Some doctors are concerned that the medicines used to suppress ovarian function, called GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone) agonists, may interfere with chemotherapy's ability to kill cancer cells when the cells are actively growing. GnRH agonists are hormones, and besides suppressing ovarian function, they may also stop or slow the growth of breast cancer cells. This would make the cancer cells less sensitive the chemotherapy.
The GnRH agonists used in ovarian suppression include:
These medicines block GnRH, a special hormone made in the brain that tells the ovaries to get ready for ovulation. Ovulation happens when a mature egg is released from the ovary, ready to be fertilized. When GnRH is blocked, no ovulation occurs.
Right now, one study suggests that premenopausal women diagnosed with hormone-receptor-negative, early-stage breast cancer who were treated with Zoladex while they were getting chemotherapy before breast cancer surgery were much less likely to be infertile after chemotherapy ended. It’s important to know that this study applies only to women diagnosed with hormone-receptor-negative disease.
Expert Quote
"In general, all women with breast cancer who are in their reproductive years should be counseled regarding fertility preservation. Chemotherapy affects fertility in every woman, regardless of age."
-- Kutluk Oktay, M.D.
联系客服