Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2011 Jun 21:9:85.
doi: 10.1186/1477-7827-9-85.

Aromatase inhibitors in stimulated IVF cycles

Evangelos G Papanikolaou  1 , Nikolaos P Polyzos, Peter Humaidan, George Pados, Ernesto Bosch, Herman Tournaye, Basil Tarlatzis
Affiliations
Review

Aromatase inhibitors in stimulated IVF cycles

Evangelos G Papanikolaou et al. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. .

Abstract

Aromatase inhibitors have been introduced as a new treatment modality that could challenge clomiphene citrate as an ovulation induction regiment in patients with PCOS. Although several randomized trials have been conducted regarding their use as ovulation induction agents, only few trials are available regarding their efficacy in IVF stimulated cycles. Current available evidence support that letrozole may have a promising role in stimulated IVF cycles, either when administered during the follicular phase for ovarian stimulation. Especially for women with poor ovarian response, letrozole appears to have the potential to increase clinical pregnancy rates when combined with gonadotropins, whereas at the same time reduces the total gonadotropin dose required for ovarian stimulation. However, given that in all of the trials letrozole has been administered in GnRH antagonist cycles, it is intriguing to test in the future how it may perform when used in GnRH agonist cycles. Finally administration of letrozole during luteal phase in IVF cycles offers another treatment modality for patients at high risk for OHSS taking into account that it drastically reduces estradiol levels.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Mauri D, Pavlidis N, Polyzos NP, Ioannidis JP. Survival with aromatase inhibitors and inactivators versus standard hormonal therapy in advanced breast cancer: meta-analysis. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006;98:1285–1291. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djj357. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Casper RF, Mitwally MF. Review: aromatase inhibitors for ovulation induction. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006;91:760–771. - PubMed
    1. Mitwally MF, Casper RF, Diamond MP. The role of aromatase inhibitors in ameliorating deleterious effects of ovarian stimulation on outcome of infertility treatment. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. 2005;3:54. doi: 10.1186/1477-7827-3-54. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Garcia-Velasco JA, Moreno L, Pacheco A, Guillen A, Duque L, Requena A, Pellicer A. The aromatase inhibitor letrozole increases the concentration of intraovarian androgens and improves in vitro fertilization outcome in low responder patients: a pilot study. Fertil Steril. 2005;84:82–87. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2005.01.117. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Polyzos NP, Tsappi M, Mauri D, Atay V, Cortinovis I, Casazza G. Aromatase inhibitors for infertility in polycystic ovary syndrome. The beginning or the end of a new era? Fertil Steril. 2008;89:278–280. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.10.016. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources