Cancer (oncology)

Fertility preservation expands to young women

For years, our cancer specialists have been offering male patients the option of banking their sperm to avoid infertility before beginning aggressive cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation. Now as a member of the nationwide Oncofertility Consortium at Northwestern University, Children's Memorial is expanding its fertility preservation services to its young female cancer patients.

The consortium of fertility experts, endocrinologists and researchers are testing to see if an ovary that is surgically removed by physicians in the Division of Pediatric Surgery and then frozen can be fertilized years later for reproduction. Young cancer patients choosing to have the ovarian harvest surgery are participating in this important research. The experimental procedure is called ovarian tissue cryopreservation.

In this procedure, one ovary is removed from a young woman and frozen before any chemotherapy or radiation is given. When she is ready to have children, the ovary may either be reimplanted back into the body or the follicles (immature eggs) in the ovary can be matured into eggs and fertilized for pregnancy. Both of these techniques are considered experimental; there is no guarantee of pregnancy. Nonetheless, the research holds promise that the girls might be able to start a family when they are ready. 

Families are encouraged to discuss fertility preservation with their cancer treatment team at the time of diagnosis. If cancer treatment has been completed and there is a concern about the patient's ability to have children, families are encouraged to seek consultation with a fertility expert.

Fertility preservation can also apply to patients treated in other disciplines, such as patients with genetic disorders that might cause infertility and in disorders such as lupus that use medications that might result in infertility.

Content last reviewed: April 2011