Finding genetic targets to decrease treatment-induced infertility

Two weeks after her wedding, Melissa Cianfrini found out she had breast cancer. Now, she's six years cancer-free and the mother of two. Motherhood is often a uncertain role for young women who develop breast cancer, because some cancer medicines may interrupt the menstrual cycle, making pregnancy unlikely.

Thanks to your donations, Tracey O'Connor, MD, in the Roswell Park Department of Medicine, was awarded a scientific grant to study inherited traits that might help predict how a patient's fertility could be affected by a specific cancer treatment.

The risk of treatment-induced infertility can be affected by the patient's age, the kinds of drugs used and the dosage given, but genetic characteristics may also be at work. Results gathered from her investigation would provide breast cancer patients under the age of 40 with crucial information regarding their treatment options.