Fertility preservation in women with cervical cancer

Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2020 Oct:154:103092. doi: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2020.103092. Epub 2020 Aug 27.

Abstract

Fertility preservation in women with cervical cancer is a demanding but evolving issue. Some remarkable achievements have been reached, in particular the improvement of primary and secondary prevention and the broadening of the indications for conservative surgery up to FIGO 2018 stage IB2. Natural pregnancy rate and the rate of obstetrics complications following conservative approach is satisfactory even if not optimal. On the other hand, the use of classic strategies for fertility preservation such as oocytes or ovarian cortex freezing is extremely limited, being the uterus compromised by treatment in a high proportion of cases. In fact, the availability of uterine surrogacy can play a role in the counseling and the decision-making process. The recent advent of uterus transplantation is fascinating but, at present, cannot be viewed as a realistic solution.

Keywords: Cervical cancer; Fertility preservation; Oocyte; Surrogacy; Uterus transplantation.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Counseling
  • Cryopreservation
  • Female
  • Fertility Preservation*
  • Humans
  • Oocytes
  • Ovary
  • Pregnancy
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*