Progestin-primed ovarian stimulation for oocyte/embryo freezing is not inferior to GnRH antagonist cycles in cancer patients for ovarian response and IVF characteristics

Abstract

Abstract Study question Does progestin-priming ovarian stimulation be an alternative to GnRH antagonist cycles in cancer patients for oocyte/embryo freezing?

Summary answer Yes, PPOS is not inferior to antagonist cycles in terms of oocyte yield, maturation, fertilization, cleavage, blastulation, or good-quality embryo formation rates.

What is known already There has been an expanding use of PPOS cycles, especially with the increasing utilization of freeze-all cycles as a simple-to-administer and less expensive alternative to GnRH analogs in routine IVF practice. Very limited data is available regarding the use of this stimulation protocol in cancer patients for oocyte/embryo freezing. We aimed to address this issue in the current study.

Study design, size, duration A retrospective cohort study was conducted between 2018 and 2024 at a tertiary fertility center, evaluating 92 female cancer patients who underwent 105 ovarian stimulation cycles for fertility preservation. Patients were stimulated using either progestin-primed ovarian stimulation (PPOS, n = 35) or a GnRH antagonist protocol (n = 70).