Should eggs be frozen before cancer treatment?

I am 32 years old, stage 2 right breast cancer. The doctor prescribed mastectomy followed by chemotherapy to eradicate metastatic cells.

I am not married, should I freeze my eggs before treatment, what is the procedure? (Thu Van, Ho Chi Minh City)

Reply:

Chemotherapy can severely damage the ovaries, stopping the release of eggs and estrogen, reducing the number of healthy eggs in the ovaries. This is called primary ovarian insufficiency, and is characterized by hot flashes, night sweats, irritability, vaginal dryness, and irregular or absent periods.

Many women after chemotherapy experience menstrual disorders and early menopause, and very few are able to conceive naturally. Chemotherapy can also affect the genome, causing abnormal egg quality, even in young women.

According to statistics from the Global Cancer Organization (Globocan) in 2020, more than 2.2 million people were diagnosed with breast cancer and about 680,000 people died from this disease. According to the Ministry of Health , in Vietnam, breast cancer accounts for 25.8% of cancers in women with more than 9,300 deaths each year.

Breast cancer can be cured and women can still have healthy children if detected and treated early to preserve fertility. Therefore, for many years, egg freezing technique for fertility preservation has been routinely applied to many women, especially single women or women who did not have enough children before cancer treatment.

Dr. Chau Hoang Phuong Thao consults a patient. Photo: Tue Diem — Dr. Chau Hoang Phuong Thao consults a patient. Photo: *Tue Diem*

If you plan to get married and have children in the future, freezing your eggs before treatment is essential to help you become a mother.

When performing this technique, your ovaries are stimulated with the appropriate protocol. The doctor performs egg retrieval, selecting mature, good quality eggs to freeze in a specialized environment at minus 196 degrees Celsius. At this time, the eggs are preserved in the best quality without time limit.

You freeze your eggs at age 32, then have breast cancer treatment and breast reconstruction. When you want to have children, you can thaw your eggs and proceed with IVF.

In 2022, at the Center for Reproductive Support, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, doctors will receive egg freezing to preserve reproductive function for many women with cancer aged 20-35. Many couples who have not had children but the wife or husband is diagnosed with cancer have also successfully frozen embryos.

Women with relatives with breast cancer (mother, sister, younger sister), history of chest radiation, early menstruation (before age 12), late menopause (after age 55); people who have previously had cancer (ovary, cervix, endometrium...); obese women, smokers... should have breast cancer screening every 6 months to promptly detect the disease if present and treat it early.

MD.CKI Chau Hoang Phuong Thao
Deputy Director of the Center for Reproductive Support
Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City

Readers with questions about infertility can send their questions here.

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