However, fertility and therefore pregnancy need not necessarily be limited by cancer.
Nowadays it can be said that cancer is a curable disease with a very high survival rate, even more so when the diagnosis is made early. This has made medical professionals, beyond fighting it, worry about improving the quality of life of patients when they have overcome the disease. (You may also be interested in:
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A woman facing a cancer diagnosis may have her fertility affected as a result of the treatment used to remove it from the body, as both radiotherapy and chemotherapy can disrupt ovarian function, limiting or nullifying her chances of becoming pregnant.
Fight cancer or try to get pregnant?
When cancer is diagnosed, the priority is undoubtedly to fight it, however, it is important that the patient knows all her options and takes preventive measures to protect fertility before starting treatment and seek, if she wishes, a pregnancy when she is healthy.
Fertility Preservation Options in Patients Diagnosed with Cancer
There are two fertility preservation alternatives: ovarian tissue preservation and egg preservation.
Ovarian Tissue Preservation is indicated for girls or women who have not started their sexual life, or for patients who have at least one week before starting cancer treatment.
This technique is performed by removing all or part of an ovary. The ovarian tissue is cut into small strips, frozen and stored for later use. After cancer treatment is complete, the tissue thaws and is placed again well near the fallopian tubes or in the abdomen; where it regenerates and recovers its function.
However, this possibility is not always viable, since when leukemias, lymphomas or lymphomas occur, In ovarian cancer, the risk of relocating cancer cells in the body is too high and it is preferable not to take risks.
For women with the aforementioned diagnosis or who have already started chemotherapy treatment, the second alternative is recommended, which is egg preservation.
In this case, what is done is to extract mature eggs from the ovaries, which have previously been stimulated, and freeze them to be used in the future in assisted fertility treatments, where these eggs are fertilized with the couple’s sperm in the laboratory, to form an embryo that will later be implanted in the patient’s uterus.
In any case, fertility and consequently a pregnancy does not necessarily have to be limited by cancer. In case this disease is diagnosed, it is best to talk to the doctor to explore options for healing and if it is possible to preserve fertility.
