Impact of infertility drugs after treatment of borderline ovarian tumors: results of a retrospective multicenter study

Objective

To evaluate safety and fertility outcome after the use of infertility drugs in patients who were treated conservatively for a borderline ovarian tumor (BOT).

Design

A retrospective multicenter study.

Setting

Centers participating in the French National Register on In Vitro Fertilization registry.

Patient(s)

Thirty patients who were treated for BOT who underwent ovarian induction (OI).

Intervention(s)

Ovarian induction was performed in 25 patients for infertility after conservative surgery and before surgery for recurrent disease in 5 patients with a single ovary (emergency cases).

Main Outcomes Measure(s)

Fertility and recurrences rates.

Result(s)

The mean number of cycles of OI per patient was 2.6 (range, 1–10 cycles). The median follow-up time after treatment of the BOT was 93 months (range, 26–276 months). After a median follow-up time of 42 months after OI, 4 recurrences were observed (initial management was simple cystectomy in 3 of them). All recurrences were borderline tumors on a remaining ovary that had been treated by surgery alone. All patients are currently disease-free. Thirteen pregnancies were observed (10 pregnancies (40%) in the group of 25 patients who were treated for infertility).

Conclusion(s)

These results suggest that infertility drugs could be used safely in patients who experience infertility after conservative management of an early-stage BOT.

Key Words: Borderline tumor, conservative treatment, infertility, in vitro fertilization, pregnancy, recurrence