Nowadays, given the early diagnosis resulting from the correct information and awareness of women, population control tests such as mammography, but also the leap development of oncology and drugs in the treatment of cancer, women can face immediately the malignancy and many times in fact, to achieve a complete cure.
But, during the process of their treatment, other issues are raised, such as the preservation of their fertility in time after their treatment. This is a particularly important and topical issue, as more and more women under the age of 45 who will be faced with a malignancy may not have completed their family, or have decided to postpone having a child until an older age.
“Oncofertility“

“The issue of preserving fertility is deeply human and is increasingly included in the oncological thinking and also in the family planning of women diagnosed with malignancy, as they follow treatments that do not allow them to conceive naturally. This issue pertains to the field of assisted reproduction, which is called “oncofertility“and includes oncological cases of young women” points out Mr. Nikolaos Skabardonis, Human Reproduction Specialist. Curator of the Gynecological Oncology Unit Metropolitan Hospital in the Department of Women – Breast.

Options for fertility preservation

When a woman is diagnosed with malignancy, she is suddenly called upon to make decisions concerning, not only her treatment, but also the preservation of her fertility at a later time. Now, the way in which the preservation of fertility is achieved is the freezing of biological material, specifically the freezing of eggs or embryos, while more rarely, in selected cases, the freezing of ovarian tissue is done.
“The freezing process is timed after the primary surgical intervention and before the start of the adjuvant treatment, whether it is chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or hormone therapy. This procedure takes around ten to fifteen days, and does not delay the treatment of the woman who chooses it. It is an easy, painless, safe and effective procedure, which – although it has in common with in vitro fertilization – uses specialized protocols and drugs, aimed at reducing the hormonal imprint of the procedure on the woman’s body, and eliminating any possible negative impact of the process in the biological course of the disease”, emphasizes the expert.

Fertility after treatment of malignancy

“Now that a woman with malignancy has been cured, she can be fertile again. However, this presupposes a surgical intervention aimed at preserving her genetic system, as well as a treatment that will not have a serious impact on her ovarian tissue and therefore will not cause her such severe damage that natural conception is impossible.
In the Breast & Women’s Department of our clinic, in collaboration with oncologists and surgeons, we deal with a multitude of such cases every day, offering personalized solutions to our patients”, concludes Mr. Skabardonis.