Fertility preservation
Women of childbearing age who are diagnosed with cancer and have to undergo chemotherapy or radiotherapy may have fertility problems after treatment. Before starting treatment, therefore, they must be informed of the possibility of having fertility preservation treatment.
The type of preservation treatment depends on each individual case, according to the type of tumour and its size at the time of diagnosis, and may not be recommended in some specific cases. In the case of chemotherapy (which affects fertility when it damages the reproductive cells), the following are determining factors in terms of whether or not a treatment may affect the woman's fertility:
- Age of the patient
- Drug used as treatment
- Dose and time used in the chemotherapy