Fertility Concerns After Breast Cancer Treatment

Looking at these statistics, it is clear that breast cancer treatment today is to deal with not only cancer treatment and survival of these young women, but also the quality of life for these young women of childbearing age have fertility issues.

Recent studies show that most breast cancer survivors who have no children at the time of diagnosis would you have them in the future. Studies also show that survivors who already have children they would like to have more. However, many report that they have not received adequate information about their future fertility and how to conserve the time of their diagnosis of cancer and when making decisions about their treatment.

Before we discuss how to preserve fertility in these survivors of breast cancer, we must learn about the effects of the treatment of breast cancer have on fertility.

drug operation targeting rapidly dividing cells. These rapidly dividing cells include not only cancer cells but also normal cells such as those in the sperm, eggs and / or cells that produce hormones that are important in reproduction. Frequently, the chemotherapy drugs made ​​by the patient with breast cancer or leave them infertile with reduced total ovarian reserve (egg drop, which can be played ).

radiation used in treating breast cancer is also the goal of rapidly dividing cells, but is usually confined to the tissue surrounding the breast. This means that the radiation used to treat breast cancer usually does not affect the ovaries, which is located in the pelvis. However, for those young women who receive radiation therapy in abdominal / pelvic region, other types of cancer can damage the uterus and ovaries.

Males who are receiving radiation for cancer in these regions can suffer damage to their testicles causes infertility. Radiation in certain parts of the brain can also result in infertility, which affects the cells that regulate the production of hormones that is necessary for reproduction.

surgery to remove the reproductive organs can obviously provide a person infertile.

However, there are options for preserving fertility in these pacijente.Izvedivosti, safety and suitability of different types of fertility preservations options depend on patient age, cancer type and treatment and whether or not the patient has a significant other.

Other factors that are important in preserving fertility also include the costs of the proceedings, the availability and success rate of the procedure or process. Therefore, you should talk to your doctor about what suits you best. It is very fertility preservation people and should be individualized to ensure the best results.

As we discussed breast cancer survivors and their fertility, we will limit our discussion to those methods that are suitable for women.

Embryo freezing is the way in which mature eggs are collected from the patient and fertilized in vitro (eggs and sperm are combined in a laboratory dish and can fertilize). This requires a sperm donor or partner. This embryo is then frozen for future use. In order to facilitate picking the most viable eggs, the patient is usually given hormones to stimulate her ovaries to produce multiple eggs.

These eggs are then collected using a needle that is guided by the ovaries by ultrasound or laparoscopic surgery. Embryo freezing is one of the most successful techniques available and safer for patients with hormone-sensitive breast cancers. Egg or egg freezing involves the collection of mature eggs and freeze them without fertilization. This may be good for women who have partners or not to use donor sperm at the time of freezing. The success rate of this procedure varies.

Ovarian tissue freezing involves the surgical removal of ovarian tissue, cutting it into small pieces and freeze them for later. This tissue, when a person is ready, then transplanted back into the woman's body. This is experimental and the success rate varies.

gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogue therapy involves the treatment of women with GnRH analogues during chemotherapy, which theoretically makes the female body that I think is before puberty. This reduces the damage to her reproductive tissues and help preserve fertility. It is shown to be very promising.

So, what happens when one of these techniques are used to preserve fertility and survivor is pregnant? Let's look at some information about possible risks to the fetus and children conceived this way.

Current research indicates that children of cancer survivors are not more likely to have defects in chromosome abnormalities, although data is limited. In addition, these children have a higher rate of cancer development.

Many of these fertility preservation techniques are relatively new. Thus, there is not much data. However, data available show little evidence that there is an increased risk of birth defects, developmental problems in these children. However, these survivors are at increased risk of multiple births (eg twins, triples, etc. ... ).

There is also an increased risk of premature babies, low birth weight, miscarriage and infant death, even when only one fetus was conceived using this technique. In addition, pregnancy may worsen organ damage caused by cancer treatment. Some treatments for breast cancer especially in the chest radiation and / or chemotherapy can damage the cardiovascular structures.

the requirements of these structures during pregnancy can be significant, especially if they are not healthy because of damage suffered during cancer treatment. Thus, all breast cancer survivors who become pregnant are at increased risk for pregnancy related complications and should be cared for by experts who can monitor and treat any complications that may arise.

Most cancer survivors worry about whether pregnancy after breast cancer increases the likelihood of cancer returning and / or decreased survival if the repetition does not occur. The data is limited, and there is much controversy regarding pregnancy in survivors of breast cancer. However, current studies show that their risk of recurrence does not increase and that their survival rate does not decrease with pregnancy. In addition, the data suggest that these fertility preservation options do not diminish the success of cancer treatment.

However, keep in mind that the data are limited, and whether or not you should or should not have children after breast cancer treatment should be decided after careful counseling by doctors and fertility specialists as these decisions can affect the your type of cancer and type of treatment you receive.

the optimal time to get pregnant after breast cancer treatment, it is not clear.

Most studies suggest waiting 2-5 years after treatment to make sure that your treatment was successful and your chances of recurrence is low during pregnancy. Again, preparation is key. Know your facts about their risks of getting pregnant. Do not put yourself and your child is at risk if the pregnancy is not right for you.