BREAST CANCER AND ESTROGEN

[Neffi211]

So I am sitting here watching Dr. OZ. They are now saying that the number 1 risk for breast cancer is exposure to estrogen not family history. This is unsettling because I just took 100 estrace pills this month and have to do it again because my cycle was canceled. I know there has been buzz about IVF and cancer recently and most doctors do not feel that IVF puts us at risk....but what if they are wrong? ANy thoughts???? I plan to get a mammogram by age 35, what can it hurt. I have alot of the risk factors including exposure to estrogen, AF before age 12, bottle fed my baby.

[tuffy4u]

Neffi, I just heard that Guilana Rancic has breast cancer. She's a correspondant for E! that has been very open about her infertility struggles and journey with IVF. Made me a little nervous, considering I have a family history of breast cancer I will definately be screening at 35. I don't think there is a medical connection yet but it's always good to be aware of your health.

[brit1612]

Wow, I was just about to post about this and I saw you already had!!!! I just got done watching Dr Oz as well, which I record every day, but don't watch many episodes. It really made me a little nervous as well. I have been through 6 cycles and I am only 27, started my period at 9 years old, and tried to breastfeed but did not produce enough milk so.... I was forced to bottle feed. Are we over-reacting or is this something that we should be truely concerned about??????? I would love to hear from ghost about this!!

One postive thing is that being on birth control has the opposite affect. It can lower your risk of breast cancer because it lowers the levels of estrogen in the body. I heard about this on a different episode of Dr Oz .

[Ghost]

I would love to hear from ghost about this!

I don't know much about cancer risk.

If you want to reduce your estrogen exposure in IVF, you might ask your RE if he would consider an aromatase inhibitor (like letrozole) during your stim. This reduces estrogen production, and also promotes ovarian stimulation.

Another alternative is in vitro maturation. In IVM, they collect immature eggs (no stim) from small follicles and mature them in culture.

If you are concerned about estrogen exposure in the luteal phase of an IVF cycle, ask your RE if you can omit it. It's optional under some protocols. Be sure to get approval from your clinic first.

[brit1612]

Thanks ghost. What to do in the future won't be too big of a deal for me, because I only have 2 possible FET cycles left and then I am completely done with fertility treatments. On a blast transfer FET, is the estrogen essential???

I have already been through 6 cycles, and was on estrogen pills and patches through all of them!!! It is a little concerning to me, but I wouldn't trade my little one for anything. Thanks for the advice.

[Ghost]

On a blast transfer FET, is the estrogen essential???

Generally, yes, I think it is. A typical FET will have no corpus luteum to support it. Most fresh cycles will have some estrogen and progesterone from the corpora lutea (follicles).

Check with your RE.

[brit1612]

Thanks Ghost. I am not too worried about these last FET cycles; considering I have already been through 6. I feel like the potential damage has already been done . Thanks for always being soooo helpful!

[Shounmaccau]

In Breast cancer the estrogen implicate is really a lots of risk.Because the breast cancer cells developing very fast and this ia very danger stage of cancer.