Fertility preservation in oncology

Since the improvement of cancer diagnosis and treatment, survival rates of these patients increase. Gonadal damages are frequent consequences of cancer treatments with different evidence of impaired fertility. In this context, fertility preservation should be proposed to patients exposed to potentially gonadotoxic treatments. Different preservation approaches may be proposed depending on patient age, sex, cancer type and type of treatment. The indications of fertility preservation depend on sexual maturity. In young girls, ovarian cortex cryopreservation is the only technique feasible in order to preserve their reproductive potential. Vitrification of oocytes which needs ovarian stimulation or oocytes in vitro maturation is becoming more commonly performed for pubertal women to preserve their fertility. Ovarian cortex freezing could be offered to emergency fertility preservation of adult female cancer patients. In prepubertal boys, testicular tissue cryopreservation is the only line treatment for fertility preservation. For future use, various approaches are being evaluated such as spermatogonial stem cell injection or in vitro maturation. Cryopreservation of spermatozoa is, today, an established and successful technique for male adults. When there are no spermatozoa in ejaculate, sperm can be retrieved after treatment of testicular biopsy. The French bioethics law clearly indicates that fertility preservation should be proposed to patients exposed to potentially gonadotoxic treatment. Today, many approaches are possible. Fertility preservation indications are based on multidisciplinary consultations within platforms for the fertility preservation in order to optimize the patient care.