Chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments can affect male and female fertility causing both temporary and permanent infertility , so considering the high life expectancy that cancer has if detected early, it is very important that patients know their alternatives to preserve fertility.
Understanding the Concepts
Permanent infertility in patients who face these treatments can occur because drugs with side effects on other organs (chemotherapy) and radiotherapies are used, which can affect the ovarian reserve in women as well as alter their hormones and damage the cells that produce sperm in men.
For this reason, oncologists must inform those patients who are going to be treated with these methods, their future alternatives in terms of fertility and determine in each patient the risks and damages that may occur, since the effect is different depending on the treatment received and other factors such as the type of cancer, where it is located, age, general health, and response to treatment.
Future expectations
So it is important to consult a fertility specialist if possible, before starting treatment, without forgetting in any case that the most important thing is to preserve one’s life and that in no way should cancer treatment be postponed.
In women, the most recognized method of fertility preservation is Egg Vitrification, where through a relatively simple procedure, women under 37 years of age will be able to freeze a limited number of eggs, which will then be fertilized in the laboratory and transferred to the patient when she decides to become a mother or there is total peace of mind that the disease has been overcome. Men, in turn, can freeze their sperm always following the instructions of the specialist and store it in a Sperm Bank.
It should be clarified that sometimes, some people recover fertility spontaneously, however, if this is not the case and they keep eggs or sperm in the Gamete Bank, they can resort to assisted reproduction techniques and thus achieve the dream of becoming parents.
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GroupArticle for the blog of El Colombiano Hablemos de Fertilidad
