Cancer-Fighting Drug Could Promote Fertility
Standard Fertility Drugs Discouraged For Breast Cancer Patients
UPDATED: 10:16 a.m. EST January 16, 2003
NEW YORK -- A breast cancer drug may help women who have had trouble conceiving after cancer treatments -- and it may work for all infertile women, according to a new study.
The study, published in the Jan. 8 issue of Human Reproduction, found that the drug tamoxifen stimulates ovaries and helps women using in-vitro fertilization to become pregnant.
Elizabeth Adams had begun to fear she would never see the ultrasound pictures of her baby, growing in her womb. She and her husband had tried to get pregnant for five and a half years. They finally resorted to in-vitro fertilization, but she couldn't take conventional fertility drugs because she had cancer.
"Something was found on my very first mammogram," Adams said. "It didn't look like much, but when I had the biopsy it ended up that I had a small cancer."
"In breast cancer patients, if we use a standard fertility drug, they would increase estrogen levels which would fuel their cancer cells. That would be risky," said Dr. Kutluk Oktay of New York Weill-Cornell Medical Center.
Another group of breast cancer patients -- those getting chemotherapy -- also have a problem conceiving because many chemo drugs cause the ovaries to stop producing eggs.
But some women are finding success with tamoxifen, which is the oral chemotherapy that binds to cancer cells, keeping estrogen from fueling breast cancer.
However, an added side effect is that tamoxifen also increases fertility.
"It binds to estrogen receptors in the brain and blocks them, and now the brain does not see enough estrogen in the body and it wants to pump up more estrogen," Oktay said. "To do that, it has to force this hormone called follicle-stimulating hormone to stimulate ovaries to make more eggs, which, in turn, would produce more estrogen."
Oktay and colleagues gave tamoxifen to breast cancer patients for a few days at the start of their menstrual cycles. Their study found that the women taking tamoxifen produced more eggs, and subsequently embryos, than did untreated breast cancer patients.
Adams is proof that works.
"I didn't think it would happen," she said. "I didn't know what I was going to resort to next."
Because tamoxifen is only used for a few days at a time, patients don't experience the side effects that are seen when it's used for long-term breast cancer treatment.
Oktay also said that women who are getting breast cancer treatment should seek advice before they get chemo if they want to have babies.
The study, published in the Jan. 8 issue of Human Reproduction, found that the drug tamoxifen stimulates ovaries and helps women using in-vitro fertilization to become pregnant.
Elizabeth Adams had begun to fear she would never see the ultrasound pictures of her baby, growing in her womb. She and her husband had tried to get pregnant for five and a half years. They finally resorted to in-vitro fertilization, but she couldn't take conventional fertility drugs because she had cancer.
"Something was found on my very first mammogram," Adams said. "It didn't look like much, but when I had the biopsy it ended up that I had a small cancer."
"In breast cancer patients, if we use a standard fertility drug, they would increase estrogen levels which would fuel their cancer cells. That would be risky," said Dr. Kutluk Oktay of New York Weill-Cornell Medical Center.
Another group of breast cancer patients -- those getting chemotherapy -- also have a problem conceiving because many chemo drugs cause the ovaries to stop producing eggs.
But some women are finding success with tamoxifen, which is the oral chemotherapy that binds to cancer cells, keeping estrogen from fueling breast cancer.
However, an added side effect is that tamoxifen also increases fertility.
"It binds to estrogen receptors in the brain and blocks them, and now the brain does not see enough estrogen in the body and it wants to pump up more estrogen," Oktay said. "To do that, it has to force this hormone called follicle-stimulating hormone to stimulate ovaries to make more eggs, which, in turn, would produce more estrogen."
Oktay and colleagues gave tamoxifen to breast cancer patients for a few days at the start of their menstrual cycles. Their study found that the women taking tamoxifen produced more eggs, and subsequently embryos, than did untreated breast cancer patients.
Adams is proof that works.
"I didn't think it would happen," she said. "I didn't know what I was going to resort to next."
Because tamoxifen is only used for a few days at a time, patients don't experience the side effects that are seen when it's used for long-term breast cancer treatment.
Oktay also said that women who are getting breast cancer treatment should seek advice before they get chemo if they want to have babies.
Read more on the study from European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology's site.Copyright 2003 by Lifewhile.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
