Fertility preservation is the latest advancement in reproductive medicine through which patients can preserve or maintain fertility or fertility. In today’s urban life, with its busy lifestyle and increasing focus on careers, many couples are delaying having children. However, this decision is not always correct because over time the ability to conceive will decrease. However, thanks to advances in medicine, young men and women can opt for fertility preservation techniques through which they can vitrify sperm or eggs for later use.
Fertility Preservation and Cancer
Typically, patients who undergo cancer treatment in the form of radiotherapy or chemotherapy are susceptible to fertility problems. Fertility preservation indications are also available to patients being treated for conditions such as infertility, lymphomas, sarcomas, systemic lupus erythematosus, acute glomerulonephritis, and Beehcet’s disease. These treatments are also known to cause reduced fertility or premature ovarian failure.
Fertility Preservation and Women
The cancer rate in women under 45 years old is 4%. Additionally, 15% of all breast cancer cases appear to occur in this age group. Cervical cancer is another common malignancy. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and radical surgery increased the survival rate in this group to 81%. However, there is evidence that these treatments slow egg or sperm production or damage reproductive organs, leading to infertility in patients.
Women now have the option to preserve their fertility before undergoing these treatments. This technique preserves good tissue and acts as a solution to infertility problems that arise from these treatments.
Fertility preservation is recommended for women in the following cases:
- Before chemotherapy/radiation treatment for cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, etc. ;
- Before other medical treatments for hepatitis, autoimmune disease, lupus, etc.,
- Before surgery remove the ovaries or most of the ovaries.
- Physiological aging (ovary);
- Premature ovarian aging (POA);
- People exposed to hazards such as radiation, lead, pesticides, fertilizers, heat from ovens
Fertility Preservation and Men
Sperm cryopreservation is the oldest and most effective option for preserving fertility in male cancer survivors, in which sperm is frozen before starting cancer treatment such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Another method is testicular tissue cryopreservation, in which the testicular tissue is frozen. This tissue can then be thawed and sperm extracted for use with eggs to create embryos. Timely consultation and initiation of the procedure are key to preserving fertility in cancer patients. Male fertility should be preserved in the following cases :
- Before chemotherapy/radiation treatment for cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, etc.
- Before treating hepatitis, autoimmune diseases, arthritis, etc.
- Before surgery to remove a testicle or most of the testicles
- People exposed to hazards such as radiation, lead, pesticides, fertilizers, heat from ovens
Options for fertility preservation
Advances in cryobiology have helped develop the concept of fertility preservation. Oocytes, sperm, embryos, and testicular tissue can be cryopreserved and then used for conception. At OASIS, we use a new technique called VITRIFICATION to cryopreserve various reproductive tissues. Vitrification is an effective, simple, inexpensive, and rapid procedure, resulting in higher survival and growth rates compared to alternative methods.
Egg vitrification
Egg freezing through VITRIFICATION is a safety net available at Oasis, where a woman’s eggs are frozen and used at a later stage when she decides to become pregnant naturally using her genetic material. This procedure is not yet available in most centers in India.
Embryo cryopreservation
This is the most effective technique that gives couples the ability to start a family. In this technique, the woman’s eggs are fertilized with her husband’s sperm and then frozen so that the embryos can be used when the couple is ready to have children.
Ovarian transplantation
Ovarian transplantation is a technique in which a small piece of ovarian tissue is cryopreserved. The tissue is then thawed and reimplanted when pregnancy is desired. This is a new technique and has not been effective so far. However, with emerging technologies, this technique will yield great results in the future.
Sperm freezing
During sperm freezing, sperm is collected and mixed with an equal amount of cryoprotectant (chemical to protect sperm from damage caused by freezing) and stored in liquid nitrogen.