Newer therapies have greatly improved cure rate and long-term survival for cancer patients. For many female cancer patients who have not yet started a family, fertility issues are of great concern.
Cryopreservation of oocytes or embryos may be currently offered to women of reproductive age who are about to undertake effective cancer treatment that could potentially make them infertile. However, this option requires controlled ovarian stimulation that takes, on average, at least two to three weeks. This can delay the cancer treatment, which sometimes is not the best option for the patient.
In pre-pubertal girls or in certain hormone sensitive tumours, ovarian stimulation is not an appropriate treatment. Ovarian tissue preservation can give an alternative or, in some cases, may be the only option for women wanting to start a family in the future. The ovarian tissue cryopreservation can be arranged within two to five days.
The first infant from frozen-thawed ovarian tissue was born in 2004. Today, cryopreservation of the ovarian tissue is widely accepted as a promising new method for preserving women’s fertility. The technology is already in clinical practice, and it is offered as a part of the fertility preservation in multiple countries.
Ovarian Tissue Cryopreservation (OTC)
We are offering the ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC), alternative fertility preservation approach for female patients who cannot delay cancer treatment or are too young to undergo hormonal stimulation.
OTC is performed after ovarian tissue is collected by simple keyhole surgery, before or during chemotherapy. When the patient’s cancer is and they are ready to start a family, the tissue can be re-implanted. OTC can not only help to restore a patient’s natural menstrual cycle, but also allow them to conceive naturally or with assisted conception technologies.
