ReviewAnti-müllerian hormone levels and evolution in women of reproductive age with breast cancer treated with chemotherapy

- Anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) rapidly decreases in women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer.
- AMH levels remain undetectable or very low after chemotherapy in most women.
- Taxanes seem to impact negatively ovarian reserve but this needs confirmation.
- AMH is predictor of chemotherapy-related amenorrhea.
- AMH is the most relevant hormonal marker of ovarian reserve.

BackgroundLong-term consequences of cancer treatments in young women, and especially fertility issues, are gaining attention as survival rates increase. Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy in women of reproductive age.AimThe purpose of this review is to describe serum anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) level at diagnosis and its evolution during and after chemotherapy in women of reproductive age treated for breast cancer. Second, the impact of taxanes on AMH, the association between AMH and amenorrhea, and the comparison of AMH with other hormonal markers of ovarian reserve were studied.MethodsA systematic PubMed search was conducted on all articles, published up to April 2016 and related to AMH in women suffering from breast cancer using the following key words: AMH, müllerian-inhibiting substance, ovarian reserve, ovarian function, breast cancer, gonadotoxicity, ovarian toxicity, amenorrhea, chemotherapy, and menopause.ResultsAMH levels rapidly fall down to undetectable levels in most women during chemotherapy and generally persist at very low levels in most women after the treatment. Taxanes seem to impact negatively ovarian function, but data on ovarian reserve are scarce. AMH is a predictor of the occurrence of chemotherapy-related amenorrhea and is the most relevant hormonal marker of ovarian reserve.ConclusionSerum AMH is a relevant tool for ovarian reserve assessment and follow-up during treatment in premenopausal women with breast cancer. Further large prospective studies are necessary to determine its predictive interest for post-treatment residual fertility, and eventually use it in fertility preservation counseling before treatment initiation.