The relationship between different hormone receptors in breast cancer patients and ovarian response before chemotherapy; a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: This study intended to investigate the relationship between the hormone receptors (including estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER/PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) or triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)) status of BC patients and their response to ovarian stimulation before chemotherapy. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study. All patients with pathologically confirmed BC who underwent fertility preservation elected for oocyte or embryo cryopreservation were included in the study. All patients were stratified according to the immunohistochemically expression of receptors. We divided the patients into the exposure groups of ER+ (n = 89)/ ER- (n = 39), PR+ (n = 85)/ PR- (n = 43), HER2+ (n = 46)/ HER2- (n = 82), TNBC (n = 27)/ non-TNBC (n = 101), and Ki67 < 20% (n = 36)/ Ki67 ≥ 20% (n = 74). The primary outcome was total oocytes retrieved. RESULTS: In total, 128 patients with BC were enrolled in this study. Based on the patients' baseline characteristics, as well as the ovarian stimulation cycle parameters and their outcomes, no significant differences were observed among patients according to hormone receptor status. The HER2 + group exhibited a significantly higher number of dominant follicles on the trigger day than the HER2- group (p = 0.035); however, no significant differences were noted regarding oocyte count and maturity. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the current study show that the determinants of BC prognosis, such as ER, PR, TNBC, and Ki67 status, have no effect on patients' responses to ovarian stimulation. Nevertheless, despite achieving an acceptable number of dominant follicles on the day of trigger, HER2 + status can affect the number of retrieved oocytes, particularly the number of mature oocytes.