Preserving fertility (the ability to conceive) is an important component of comprehensive rehabilitation for people who have suffered from cancer.

Radiation and chemotherapy have a very strong negative effect on fertility (ability to conceive). After such treatment, the reproductive system (both in women and men) will no longer function fully.

Modern assisted reproductive technologies make it possible to obtain material for cryopreservation before anticancer therapy, which later gives cancer patients a chance to become parents.

The main methods for preserving fertility of women with cancer:

• Cryopreservation of mature oocytes, obtained using special protocols to stimulate ovulation, and sometimes in natural cycles.
• Cryopreservation of immature oocytes. They can be obtained in unstimulated cycle and subsequently cultivated by the method of IVM.
• Cryopreservation of embryos (used in patients in stable marriages).
• Cryopreservation and subsequent autotransplantation of a part of the cortical layer of the ovary, which contains primordial follicles - “preforms” laid down in the embryonic period with resting immature oocytes. The method is still only being introduced into clinical practice, its possibilities continue to be explored.

For the prevention of infertility in men with cancer include:

• Cryopreservation of sperm (ejaculate).
• Cryopreservation of sperm obtained surgically from testicular tissue or epididymis (by aspiration or biopsy).
• Cryopreservation of sperm collected from post-coital urine. Used when a man has retrograde ejaculation.
• Freezing the tissue of the testicle when it is necessary to conduct antitumor therapy for patients who have not yet reached puberty. The method is still at the stage of development and clinical testing.
• Hormonal gonadoprotection during chemotherapy, designed to inhibit the functioning of the testicles.