Breast Cancer and Fertility Preservation in Young Female Patients: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Introduction: Breast cancer affects worldwide almost 1.5 million women below the age of 45 years each year. Many of these women will be advised to undergo adjuvant chemotherapy to minimize the risk of death or recurrence of the tumor. For these patients, chemotherapy is a known cause of infertility, as it can damage primordial follicles which can lead to early menopause or premature ovarian insufficiency. This systematic review aims to synthesize the current evidence of the most suitable treatments for fertility preservation. Methodology: This review is performed following the PRISMA guidelines. The authors conducted an extensive search from the last 15 years. Relevant studies were pursued in PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library up until the July 31, 2023. A total of 7 eligible studies were identified. Discussion: The most suitable treatments for fertility preservation in young patients, is the temporary suppression with luteinizing hormone-releasing analogs, while the patient undergoes chemotherapy and cryopreservation. For cryopreservation, the physicians might deem it necessary to either cryopreserve ovarian tissue taken from the patient before any treatment or cryopreserve embryos/oocytes. Cryopreservation of oocytes and/or embryos is the most effective solution for fertility preservation in women of reproductive age, who have sufficient ovarian reserve and are diagnosed with breast cancer, regardless of the histological type of the tumor. Since approximately 50% of young breast cancer patients are interested in becoming pregnant right after completion of therapy, the evolution and development of fertility preservation techniques promise to be very exciting.