Cancer and uterine preservation: a first step toward preserving fertility after pelvic radiation

Cancer and uterine preservation: a first step toward preserving fertility after pelvic radiation
When a young woman is diagnosed with cancer, timely and thorough treatment is paramount to an excellent prognosis; but as our cancer treatments and increasing access to minimally invasive surgical techniques improve every year, the oncologic and patient communities are progressively advocating for preservation of quality of life when deciding upon treatment timelines and options. One of the major considerations only recently, and now increasingly prioritized, is preservation of fertility. For women whose cancer requires pelvic radiation, the question of maintaining fertility has generally meant egg or embryo cryopreservation with the future hope of employing a surrogate to carry her child, given that the radiation therapy reduces uterine volume, causes myometrial fibrosis, damage to the endometrium, and decreases uterine vascular perfusion.
Source: fertstert.org