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Fertility preservation in female oncology patients
Author(s) -
STERN Catharyn J.,
TOLEDO Manuela G.,
GOOK Debra A.,
SEYMOUR John F.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.734
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1479-828X
pISSN - 0004-8666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1479-828x.2006.00507.x
Subject(s) - fertility preservation , fertility , ovarian tissue cryopreservation , medicine , oncology , embryo cryopreservation , oncofertility , gynecology , intensive care medicine , biology , cryopreservation , embryo , population , environmental health , microbiology and biotechnology
Survival rates for patients treated for the majority of childhood and young adult cancers have improved dramatically in recent years. 1 Despite the high probability of survival, and often good quality of life in female survivors, until recently the concept of fertility preservation has not been seen to be an important component of the overall management of these patients. Over the last few years, various protection and preservation strategies have been developed, which may address potential reproductive concerns. Gametes or embryos may be frozen prior to potentially gonadotoxic cancer therapy, and ovarian tissue may be frozen and stored, with several pregnancies described after subsequent grafting. 2,3 There is also increasing interest in the possibility of ovarian protection using gonadotrophin‐releasing hormone analogues during chemotherapy, despite the lack of randomised controlled trials. 4 Additionally, there are reports of novel protective strategies, including therapeutic alteration or manipulation of the sphingomyelin pathways. 5 This review summarises methods of fertility protection and preservation currently available, as well as the emergence of promising new strategies.