The effect of aromatase inhibitor on controlled ovarian stimulation for oocyte cryopreservation in adolescent and young cancer patients.

AIM: To determine the impact of aromatase inhibitor (AI) use in oocyte cryopreservation among Japanese adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients for fertility preservation, we evaluated the oocyte cryopreservation outcomes following AI therapy in combination with the follicular phase start (FPS) and random start (RS) protocols. METHODS: This retrospective study included 81 cycles of controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) among 73 AYA patients with cancer who underwent oocyte cryopreservation to maintain fertility. The outcome measures were the total number of matured oocytes that were retrieved and cryopreserved, as well as their maturation rates. The AI (+) and AI (-) groups were compared using the RS and FPS protocols. RESULTS: Our results showed that the combined use of AI and COS decreases serum E2 levels and maintains the number of retrieved and cryopreserved mature oocytes. We also confirmed the efficacy of the RS protocol, which was found to have comparable outcomes to that of the FPS protocol in both AI (+) and AI (-) groups. CONCLUSION: The combined use of AI and COS is beneficial for oocyte cryopreservation in patients with estrogen-sensitive cancer, regardless of the menstrual cycle phase of COS initiation.

Twenty-first century oocyte cryopreservation-in vitro maturation of immature oocytes from ovarian tissue cryopreservation in cancer patients: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: Our review aimed to consolidate the latest update on the application of in vitro maturation among immature oocyte harvest in combination with ovarian tissue cryopreservation known as ovarian tissue oocyte-in vitro maturation. METHODS: A thorough search for relevant studies was conducted via PubMed, Google Scholar, EMBASE, and clinical.gov databases up to December 2020. The primary outcome was the oocyte maturation rate, which measured the number of immature oocytes (geminal vesicle stage) that progressed to mature oocytes (meiosis II stage) following in vitro maturation. The secondary outcomes were the fertilization rate following intracytoplasmic sperm injection/in vitro fertilization of these oocytes for the embryo cryopreservation cohort. Our review included pre-pubertal girls and women with cancer who underwent ovarian tissue oocyte-in vitro maturation as fertility preservation. RESULTS: The primary search identified 207 studies. Twelve manuscripts were selected for inclusion in our review following duplication assessment, title and abstract screening, and full-text evaluation tailored to our inclusion criteria. All the population belonged to a cancer group and underwent concurrent ovarian tissue oocyte-in vitro maturation. A total of 5724 immature oocytes were obtained following ovarian tissue cryopreservation. Approximately 33.84% of the immature oocytes successfully matured via in vitro maturation, which were cryopreserved as oocytes or fertilized as embryos and subsequently stored for future use. CONCLUSION: Our review proposed the potential application of ovarian tissue oocyte-in vitro maturation in increasing the number of mature oocytes. The acceptable improvement in oocyte maturation rate following in vitro maturation indicates that improving oocyte outcomes is an excellent cost-effective strategy for fertility preservation among women with cancer.

Learning Curve of Surgeons Performing Laparoscopic Ovarian Tissue Transplantation in Women with Premature Ovarian Insufficiency: A Statistical Process Control Analysis.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To analyze patient safety in laparoscopic ovarian tissue transplantation surgery by tracking the rate of postoperative complications and the learning curves of the surgeons by statistical process control analysis. DESIGN: A retrospective study. SETTING: A university-affiliated hospital. PATIENTS: A total of 100 patients with premature ovarian insufficiency who underwent ovarian tissue cryopreservation by vitrification and then autologous transplantation of frozen-thawed ovarian tissues with in vitro activation. INTERVENTIONS: Ovarian tissue cryopreservation, in vitro activation, and transplantation. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We assessed the surgery complications, differences in total surgery time, transplantation time, and transplantation time per ovarian sheet in operations performed by 3 experienced laparoscopic surgeons. Surgeon A performed 80 operations; surgeon B, 29 operations; and surgeon C, 20 operations. Complications occurred in 1.55% of the procedures. Although all 3 surgeons' performance never fell below the unacceptable failure limit, only surgeon A became competent after 66 cases. CONCLUSION: The laparoscopic ovarian tissue transplantation surgery was generally safe given that the postoperative complications were infrequent (1.55%). Although the performance of all 3 surgeons was acceptable, only surgeon A attained the level of competency after 66 cases. The transplantation method may not be the key factor for reducing surgery time in this surgery. An efficient ovarian tissue transplantation team is more important in reducing the surgery time than the surgeon's surgical technique alone.

Case Report: Young Adults With Breast Cancer: A Case Series of Fertility Preservation Management and Literature Review.

Breast cancer comprised at least 21.8% of the overall cancer among young adult (YA) women and became the leading cancer in this group in Japan, with 50% adolescent and YAs being diagnosed and 15-44-year-old women showing excellent 5-year survival. Surgical-chemoradiation therapy often results in excellent survivorship with an increased incidence of treatment-induced subfertility. Therefore, adding fertility preservation (FP) to the primary cancer treatment is necessary. Herein, we reported a series of cases of YA women with breast cancer who opted for FP, where their option was tailored accordingly. To date, the selection of oocytes, embryos and ovarian tissue is widely available as an FP treatment. PGT could reduce the risk of BRCA mutation transmission amongst BRCA carriers before pregnancy planning. Otherwise, gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog has no gonadoprotective effect and thus should not be considered as an FP option.

Oncofertility Treatment Among Breast Cancer Women: A Paradigm Shift of Practice After a Decade of Service.

Purpose: Our center is known as a pioneer center initiating oncofertility service since 2010 in Japan. We demonstrate our transition of this service in regional university hospitals ingenuously. Methods: We compared two phases of service: initial phase (2011 and 2012) and current phase (2019). The comparison included the number of women attending the oncofertility unit, diversity of breast cancer cases, the acceptability of preservation service, and the type of fertility preservation (FP) option offered in between these phases. Results: A total of 58 women were seen during the initial phase as compared with 41 women in the later phase. The mean age at diagnosis was not significantly different between the two periods. The majority of them were married and diagnosed with stage II luminar type. The current phase had a tendency to have a higher anti-Müllerian hormone level although not reaching significance. At least 50% of them declined FP and 84.5% never received ovarian control stimulation in the initial phase. Otherwise, 61% used aromatase inhibitor in the current phase. Only 15.5% in the initial phase received control ovarian stimulation whereas 63.4% in the current phase received it. The ovarian tissue cryopreservation was highly chosen during the initial phase (25.9%), whereas embryo cryopreservation (39%) was highly opted for during the current phase. All of our parameters are comparable between these two phases (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The significant changes of oncofertility practice were observed mainly due to the understanding of the oncofertility concept among reproductive physicians and the acceptance environment, including standard guidelines, supportive society, as well as advancements in cryobiology technique.