Preservation of fertility in children and adolescents with cancer: Current situation and future perspectives

Advances in antineoplastic therapy have considerably increased survival rates, and currently in the setting of paediatric population are higher than 70%. Among the potential long-term late effects due to oncological treatment, reproductive dysfunction may have a particularly deep impact on the survivors' quality of life. Until recently, limited fertility preservation options were available before gonadotoxic therapies. In the last few years the development of new assisted reproduction techniques, including ovarian cryopreservation, may be promising in selected groups of patients. Although, the feasibility of these advances in the paediatric and adolescent field have a long way to go, several practical and ethical issues deserve a special review before recommending them for routine medical practice. (c) 2009 Asociacion Espanola de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.