Women who undergo hormonal or nonhormonal fertility preservation procedures following breast cancer diagnosis are not at increased risk for relapse or breast cancer-specific mortality, Swedish study findings indicate.

A nationwide study of Swedish breast cancer patients has demonstrated that receipt of fertility preservation significantly improves reproductive outcomes compared with the absence of such care.

They also provide guidance on fertility, ovarian function suppression, and premature menopause, which are “major issues” in this patient population.

Zong et al say that although “fertility is a major concern” among young women with breast cancer, up to now “there has been no prospective randomized clinical study on ovarian function related to breast cancer in Chinese or Asian populations.”

This finding “indicates that age-specific discussions and consideration of fertility preservation procedures should be considered before treatment” for Hodgkin lymphoma, the researchers remark.

Children conceived using assisted reproductive technology do not have an increased cancer risk relative to either the general population or naturally conceived children of women with impaired fertility, shows a Dutch study with a long follow-up.

Fertility-sparing surgery is an important option for young women with ovarian cancer but there are questions surrounding its safety in all cases. Philippe Morice and Sébastien Gouy (Institut Gustave Roussy, France) discuss the problems faced in high-risk cases.

Temporary ovarian suppression with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog alongside neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy could help preserve ovarian function and fertility in premenopausal women with early-stage breast cancer, shows a pooled analysis.