Critical appraisal:Oktay K, Turan V, Bedoschi G, Pacheco FS, Moy F 2015

Critical Appraisal

Article being appraised

Oktay K, Turan V, Bedoschi G, Pacheco FS, Moy F. Fertility Preservation Success Subsequent to Concurrent Aromatase Inhibitor Treatment and Ovarian Stimulation in Women With Breast Cancer. J Clin Oncol 2015 Aug 1;33(22):2424-9 Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26101247.

Applicable clinical question

In female cancer patients does the use of embryo cryopreservation result in pregnancy and live birth?

Key Facts

Study Design

case series

Study aims:

an approach to ovarian stimulation for the purpose of fertility preservation (FP) in women with breast cancer via embryo freezing with the concurrent use of letrozole. The aim of this study was to provide the pregnancy and FP outcomes when embryos generated with the same protocol are used.

Number of Patients:

131

Results of outcome(s):

Thirty-three of the 131 women underwent 40 attempts to transfer embryos to their own uterus (n = 18) or via the use of a gestational carrier (n = 22) at a mean age of 41.5 ± 4.3 years with a median 5.25 years after embryo cryopreservation. The overall live birth rate per embryo transfer was similar to the US national mean among infertile women of a similar age undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (45.0 v 38.2; P = .2). Seven (38.8%) of the 18 pregnancies were twins with no higher-order pregnancies being encountered. No fetal anomalies or malformations were reported in 25 children after a mean follow-up of 40.4 ± 26.4 months. Seventeen of the 33 women attempting pregnancy had at least one child, translating into an FP rate of 51.5% per attempting woman.

Includes an economic evaluation

no