open access

Vol 89, No 5 (2018)
Review paper
Published online: 2018-05-30
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Reproductive health of female childhood cancer survivors

Rūta Žulpaitė1, Žana Bumbulienė2
·
Pubmed: 30084481
·
Ginekol Pol 2018;89(5):280-286.
Affiliations
  1. Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine, M. K. Čiurlionio str. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania
  2. Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Santariškių str. 2, LT-08661 Vilnius, Lithuania

open access

Vol 89, No 5 (2018)
REVIEW PAPERS Gynecology
Published online: 2018-05-30

Abstract

Current treatment schemes of childhood cancer are usually effective enough to enable successful management of the disease. With the high rates of survival, another problem arises because patients often suffer much later from side effects of the toxic therapy. A common complication caused by cancer treatment is impairment of the female reproductive system including dysfunction of the hypothalamus and hypophysis, the killing of gonadal cells, and uterine injury. This may lead to altered pubertal timing, gonadotropin insufficiency or deficiency, acute ovarian failure, premature ovarian insufficiency, sexual dysfunction, and complicated pregnancy. The severity of these side effects depends a lot on the patient’s age at treatment and the particularities of their chemo- and/or radiotherapy regimens. While some types of cancer require aggressive treatment, and therefore negative side effects cannot be avoided, strategies which preserve the patient’s reproductive potential are essential. Such strategies are more established in the treatment of adult women, however there are also promising opportunities in the treatment of pediatric oncology patients. Ovar­ian transposition is already widely applied before pelvic radiotherapy. Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue, cryopreservation and in vitro maturation of immature oocytes, or cryopreservation of mature oocytes when the patient’s age is appropriate, have also shown to have promising results in pediatric patients. Concurrent combinations of several techniques can also be successful. Counselling of pediatric patients and their families is challenging, and the urgent commencement of anticancer therapies often discourages attempts to preserve the girl’s reproductive system. Given that successful methods of fertility preserva­tion are already accessible, it is crucial not to leave this topic aside at the time of diagnosis.

Abstract

Current treatment schemes of childhood cancer are usually effective enough to enable successful management of the disease. With the high rates of survival, another problem arises because patients often suffer much later from side effects of the toxic therapy. A common complication caused by cancer treatment is impairment of the female reproductive system including dysfunction of the hypothalamus and hypophysis, the killing of gonadal cells, and uterine injury. This may lead to altered pubertal timing, gonadotropin insufficiency or deficiency, acute ovarian failure, premature ovarian insufficiency, sexual dysfunction, and complicated pregnancy. The severity of these side effects depends a lot on the patient’s age at treatment and the particularities of their chemo- and/or radiotherapy regimens. While some types of cancer require aggressive treatment, and therefore negative side effects cannot be avoided, strategies which preserve the patient’s reproductive potential are essential. Such strategies are more established in the treatment of adult women, however there are also promising opportunities in the treatment of pediatric oncology patients. Ovar­ian transposition is already widely applied before pelvic radiotherapy. Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue, cryopreservation and in vitro maturation of immature oocytes, or cryopreservation of mature oocytes when the patient’s age is appropriate, have also shown to have promising results in pediatric patients. Concurrent combinations of several techniques can also be successful. Counselling of pediatric patients and their families is challenging, and the urgent commencement of anticancer therapies often discourages attempts to preserve the girl’s reproductive system. Given that successful methods of fertility preserva­tion are already accessible, it is crucial not to leave this topic aside at the time of diagnosis.

Get Citation

Keywords

childhood cancer, reproductive health, fertility preservation

About this article
Title

Reproductive health of female childhood cancer survivors

Journal

Ginekologia Polska

Issue

Vol 89, No 5 (2018)

Article type

Review paper

Pages

280-286

Published online

2018-05-30

Page views

2148

Article views/downloads

1956

DOI

10.5603/GP.a2018.0048

Pubmed

30084481

Bibliographic record

Ginekol Pol 2018;89(5):280-286.

Keywords

childhood cancer
reproductive health
fertility preservation

Authors

Rūta Žulpaitė
Žana Bumbulienė

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