(The) rate of ovarian failure in 12 months following adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients according to age group

Abstract

Introduction: Chemotherapy induced ovarian failure (CIOF) is an unwanted complication following adjuvant chemotherapy. Previous reports on the rate of CIOF in breast cancer patients have been inconsistent among studies, and there was no reliable report on the rate of CIOF according to age group. The purpose of this study was to identify the rate of chemotherapy-induced ovarian failure (CIOF) in breast cancer patients in Korea. Methods: A retrospective review of medical records was performed on 726 candidates with operable breast cancer that received adjuvant chemotherapy between January 2009 and December 2012. Patients of age 20-44 that had serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) reported between 9 and 15 months following completion of chemotherapy were included. Patients that have received gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist for fertility preservation during chemotherapy were excluded. Results: A total of 296 patients were included. The overall rate of CIOF was 16.2%. The rate of CIOF in age groups 20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, and 40-44 were 0% (0/1), 0% (0/8), 3.8% (1/26), 12.9% (13/95), and 20.8% (35/168), respectively. There was a significant increasing trend of CIOF with increasing age (P = 0.006). The CMF chemotherapy regimen showed a higher rate of CIOF compared to anthracycline and/or taxane containing chemotherapy regimen, but the difference was statistically not significant (36.4% and 15.4%, respectively, P = 0.084). Conclusion: We report the rate of CIOF in Korean breast cancer patients following adjuvant chemotherapy. The overall rate of CIOF was, 16.2% in women between ages 20 and 44. The rate of CIOF showed a statistically significant trend of increase with increasing age. Keywords: breast cancer, chemotherapy-induced ovarian failure, follicle stimulating hormone