Fertility preservation strategies in female cancer patients

Abstract

Cancer is widespread in women of reproductive age, but the recent progress in cancer treatment has greatly enhanced life expectancy of patients. Unfortunately, aggressive chemotherapy and radiotherapy can often damage ovarian reserve leading to a loss of fertility and sometimes to premature menopause. Preserving fertility is a very important issue for cancer survivors. Several improved medical and surgical strategies and experimental methodologies are now available to offer the possibility of fertility preservation without compromising cancer treatment outcome and survival. This review discusses the innovations available to women interested in retaining their fertility including medical and surgical strategies and assisted reproductive technologies, such as ovarian tissue cryopreservation, embryo cryopreservation and oocytes cryopreservation. Some legal and ethical considerations are also reported as well as potential childbearing risks for cancer survivors.