الحفاظ على الخصوبة لمرضى سرطان الأطفال هو الأمل للعائلات

Rochester, Minnesota: Thanks to research and treatment advances, most children with cancer survive into adulthood and beyond. Cancer treatment comes with a risk of infertility, but thanks to fertility preservation, it is now possible to ensure that children who have been treated for cancer will one day have children when they are older. Asma Shata , MBBS , child and adolescent reproductive health specialist and co-founder of the Preserving Child Fertility Program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., explains fertility preservation and the factors families should consider.

Many cancer treatments can threaten fertility, including radiation therapy , especially to the brain where puberty and pelvic signals come from, and chemotherapy containing cyclophosphamide , says Dr. Chata. 

"Oncologists often bring up fertility if treatment might affect it, but it's also important that families don't feel embarrassed about it," she says.

The choice to maintain fertility depends on several factors, including the age of the child, and according to this, Dr. Shata notes that children who have started or completed puberty have more options than younger children. For example, semen samples can be stored for older boys who have gone through puberty, and for older girls who have started menstruating, eggs.

For younger children who have not yet reached puberty, storing genital tissue is the only feasible option. For young girls, this is achieved by storing ovarian tissue from one ovary, and for boys, a small amount of testicular tissue is stored by a testicular biopsy.

As the doctor says. Chata, samples are stored in banks and can be transported to wherever the patient lives when they decide to go into paternity. The Mayo Clinic Fertility Preservation Program offers several options for fertility preservation, depending on the child's age, puberty, diagnosis and proposed treatment plan. Ovarian and testicular tissue can be cryopreserved.

Dr says. Shata: “We hope that the fertility program brings a lot of optimism towards their future. We know they are fighting an uphill battle, and it is a very difficult phase in their lives, but I always find talking about fertility brings hope to their families.” 

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Media contact: Sharon Thiemer, Mayo Clinic Public Relations Officer, [email protected]