Fertility in women survivors of hematological malignancies: what is the real role of GnRH analogue treatment?

PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION: The aim of this study was to evaluate the ovarian function in women who received or not gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogue co-treatment compared to the control group that did not receive it.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

This study analyzed 124 patients affected by hematological diseases between 1998 and 2007. The data were analyzed using R (v 2.9.1).

RESULTS

In the women treated with GnRH analogue, the authors found 33% post-treatment secondary amenorrhea and 6% had a pregnancy post-treatment, while in the other group the prevalence were respectively 49% and 4% (p n.s.). Moreover, in multivariate analysis the authors found bone marrow transplantation to be a risk factor for secondary amenorrhea, while the association of chemotherapy with radiotherapy was a protective factor (p < 0.05). Finally, none of the considered factors were predictive of pregnancy achievement post-treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

The authors found no statistical evidence to support that Gn-RH analogue treatment preserves ovarian follicular reserve during hematologic cancer treatment, but more evidence must be obtained.