Fertility-preserving measures for girls and young women with cancer

Abstract

Background: Children and young adults with cancer may be rendered infertile as a result of their treatment. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of fertility-preserving measures for girls and young women.

Material and methods: The article is based on literature searches in the medical databases Medline, Pubmed and Scopus and the experience of a Nordic cooperative group on gonadal preservation in connection with cancer treatment.

Results: There are several methods for preserving the fertility of girls and young women with cancer. These should form a part of the actual cancer treatment. Cryopreservation of embryos is a well established method for adult cancer patients, also in Norway. Cryopreservation of eggs and ovarian tissue is to be regarded as still at the experimental stage. Research and new methods will improve the options for prepubertal children and young adults with disseminated cancer.

Interpretation: Multidisciplinary cooperation is necessary to ensure that children and young cancer patients receive thorough information about the risk of infertility after cancer treatment, and about potential fertility-preserving measures.