Fertility Preservation in Female Cancer Patients

Dear Colleagues,

Advances in the field of oncology have led to increased survival rates for girls and young women with cancer. However, chemotherapy drugs and radiotherapy are often gonadotoxic and can cause a dramatic reduction in fertility. Since the opportunity to have children is an important quality of life factor, it is recommended that patients be referred to IVF centers before starting gonadotoxic therapies. The gold standard techniques for the preservation of fertility are currently the cryopreservation of oocytes and embryos. In December 2019, ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation was recognized by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine as no longer being an experimental fertility preservation technique. This technique still has some limitations in terms of the longevity of the transplanted tissue and the potential risk of reintroducing neoplastic cells. For these reasons, several other novel treatments are also being tested.

In this special issue we will highlight the current state of the art, the role of fertility preservation techniques in improving the quality of life of young women, and the ongoing controversies relating to fertility preservation. We will also address the management of young adults and children who face infertility due to gonadotoxic treatments, with the ultimate goal of improving the outcomes for these patients.

Prof. Alessandra Andrisani and Dr. Loris Marin

Guest Editors

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