Breast cancer

A cancer patient may have her fertility affected by treatments such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery.

That’s why egg vitrification is recommended—a technique that involves freezing eggs before starting cancer treatment, so the woman retains the same chances of having children as she did before the illness. The great advantage of this method is that it allows a woman to have children years later in a safe way. It is recommended that the woman undergo this technique between surgery and the start of chemotherapy. This guarantees that her eggs are stored, and once the oncologist gives the green light, treatment can begin.

Treatments

In any case, normal ovulatory recovery is the best-case scenario because the woman could become pregnant naturally. However, this only occurs in about 20% to 30% of cases. While that may seem low, the truth is that it's a significant improvement compared to previous years. Today, it is quite possible to become pregnant after overcoming breast cancer. Many women regain their fertility, depending on many factors such as the type of chemotherapy and the patient’s age.

One pretreatment option to consider is ovarian tissue cryopreservation. With this technique, both fertility and hormonal function of the ovaries can be preserved. The method involves a laparoscopic surgery to remove the cortex of one of the ovaries, which is then frozen. Once the patient has recovered, the cortex can be reimplanted in the same place it was removed from.