More and more young women are affected by cancer of the reproductive organs and have not yet had a baby. Does cancer rule out any chance of motherhood? The 'I'm with you' programme was created to answer some of the most difficult questions people with genital cancer ask. We asked an expert in the field of gynaecological oncology - Professor Mariusz Bidzinski, MD, PhD - how to treat cancer in order to preserve fertility, what impact chemotherapy has on fertility and what are the chances of getting pregnant after such treatment.
That is, treatment should be planned accordingly to preserve fertility.
Exactly right. Before starting treatment, when a woman and a man come to see an oncologist, this topic should be discussed. The woman, may not realise that a problem could arise in the future. She comes in, hears the word 'cancer' and focuses only on getting cured of it. But whether she will be able to have children, a normal family in the future, she doesn't think about that. And it's up to the doctor to broach this subject, to say 'ma'am, the chance of a cure is high - because it's early stage, because we're not treating you radically - and are you planning to have a child in the future? If so, we can consider such treatment options, and such measures can destroy your gonads therefore we are moving away from them'. The treatment planning stage is very important. In many countries, failing to raise this issue can be seen as a mistake
in the art of medicine.
What effect does chemotherapy have on fertility?
There are groups of drugs that can have a very negative impact on ovarian function, such as cyclophosphamide. This is a drug that is commonly used in various types of cancer and it can very clearly damage the function of the gonad itself.
There are some of the drugs that will be very toxic to the ovary and you need to be aware of that too. If the doctor is planning treatment and the woman says she would like to preserve her fertility in the future, this should be taken into account. Then this drug can be replaced by another preparation with a lower toxicity profile to the ovary.
What are the chances of getting pregnant after cancer treatment?
Very high. If we have the reproductive organ left, the ovulation process will continue. And these are situations where patients absolutely have a chance of having children.
