Fertility preservation in patients of childbearing age treated for breast cancer: A nationwide cohort study

BACKGROUND: Approximately 7% of breast cancers are diagnosed in women under 40. Question of subsequent fertility has become fundamental. We aimed to evaluate the rate of fertility preservation (FP) by oocyte retrieval (OR) after ovarian stimulation in patients of childbearing age, managed for breast cancer with adjuvant chemotherapy in France, reuse rate of frozen gametes and live births rate (LBR) after treatment. METHODS: We included 15,774 women between 18 and 40 years old, managed by surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer, between January 2011 and December 2020 from a French health registry. Patients with OR after breast surgery and before chemotherapy were considered as FP group; those with no OR as no FP group. To compare LBR with French population independently of age, we calculated Standardized Incidence Rates (SIR) of live births using indirect standardization method. RESULTS: FP rate increased gradually since 2011, reaching 17% in 2019. A decrease in use was observed in 2020 (13,9%). Among patients with at least 2 years of follow-up, gamete reuse rate was 5,6%. Births after cancer were mostly from spontaneous pregnancies. Among patients with at least 3 years of follow-up, LBR was 19,6% in FP group, 3,9% in second group. SIR of live births was of 1,05 (95% CI = 0.91–1.19) and 0.33 (95% CI = 0.30–0.36) in FP and no FP group respectively. CONCLUSION: Oncofertility activity increased until 2019 in France, reaching 17%. Gamete reuse rate was low. Births resulted mainly from spontaneous pregnancies. SIR of live births was lower in no FP group.