Fertility Preservation in Pediatric Oncology Patients: New Perspectives

Abstract

Over the past 30 years, advances in antineoplastic treatment led to a significant increase in the survival of patients with childhood cancer. In Europe and the United States, 82% of children, adolescents, and young adults survive 5 years from the cancer diagnosis and the majority achieves long-term survival into adulthood. The impact of cancer therapy on fertility is related to the age of the patient and to the duration, dose/intensity, and type of treatment. Exposure to chemotherapy or to radiation to gonads or pituitary brings long-term complications of cancer-directed therapies that include effects on reproductive capacity. Different methods to preserve fertility can be offered. In prepubertal women, ovarian tissue freezing, in vitro maturation, and surgical movement of ovaries outside the field of irradiation are still experimental. In pubertal and postpubertal women, oocyte-embryo freezing is an established option. In men, the options are sperm cryopreservation, gonadal transposition, and testicular tissue or spermatogonial cryopreservation and reimplantation. Fertility risks and provision of strategies to minimize cancer treatment impact fertility include discussion of the tail of the option before cancer treatment. Having to make a decision in a limited time, while still coming to terms with a potentially life-threatening diagnosis, can cause patients to feel overwhelmed. To date, there are no uniform guidelines on how to approach this problem, so it is important to be aware of it for proper clinical practice.