I have now treated about 25-30 women with either CML or ET using interferon and in 6-8 cases Pegasys. In at lease 2 cases, women underwent fertility therapy while on interferon and Pegasys respectively. All pregnancies have apparently resulted in normal deliveries with no obvious fetal issues. I repeat my concern about patients not presenting pregnant and that is not switching them to interferon until they have a good and stable response to TKI, watching them for 6 months to be sure the response is sustained on the interferon, before telling them to go ahead and try to get pregnant. In only one case, has a patient lost response during the 6 month interferon observation period, and they went back on their TKI. Unfortunately, she had become pregnant "accidently" and when it was discovered that she had lost her molecular response, she elected to terminate the pregnancy. For women presenting while pregnant or becoming pregnant while on TKI, the scenario is different. With the former group, there is the risk of disease progression as described in one of the cases here. With the latter group, there may already be fetal issues and if the CML is not well controlled, disease issues before the end of term.
In regard to reducing the chances of conception, I only have one case where the woman also had polycystic ovary disease, where pregnancy was not successful. In fact in women with ET, about half my group, repeatedly spontaneous abortions were usually part of the history prior to starting interferon. I expect that the interferon controls the platelets, reducing the chance of thrombosis in vessels in the placenta, but also remembering that the placenta secretes interferons itself, something thought to be involved in fetal retention under normal circumstances. The use of exogenous interferon may just enhance this process.