title: Gonadal damage and options for fertility preservation in female and male cancer survivors.
abstract: It is estimated that in 2010, 1 in every 250 adults will be a childhood cancer survivor. Today, oncological surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy achieve relatively high rates of remission and long-term survival, yet are often detrimental to fertility. Quality of life is increasingly important to long-term survivors of cancer, and one of the major quality-of-life issues is the ability to produce and raise normal children. Developments in the near future in the emerging field of fertility preservation in cancer survivors promise to be very exciting. This article reviews the published literature, discusses the effects of cancer treatment on fertility and presents the options available today thanks to advances in assisted-reproduction technology for maintaining fertility in male and female patients undergoing this type of treatment. The various diagnostic methods of assessing the fertility potential and the efficacy of in vitro fertilization (IVF) after cancer treatment are also presented.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Johannes Gutenburg University, Mainz, Germany. maltaris@uni-mainz.de
authors.forename: Theodoros
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maltaris
authors.forename: Heinz
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koelbl
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Seufert
authors.forename: Franklin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kiesewetter
authors.forename: Matthias W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Beckmann
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dittrich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D010053:Ovary / Q000473:pathology*; D017741:Survivors; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D013737:Testis / Q000473:pathology*