Amruta Jaiswal*
Gynaecological cancers are distinguished by the fact that they affect organs directly involved in reproduction. The current treatments (surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy) frequently have a negative impact on subsequent fertility. With improved screening and treatment, an increasing number of young patients are being diagnosed and cured at an earlier stage, but they are also losing their fertility. Fertility must be considered as an important aspect of quality of life following cancer treatment. When gynaecologic cancer develops in these young patients, it has significant psychological consequences, not only because of the announcement of a long and potentially fatal illness, but also because of necessary therapies that can result in permanent sterility. In vitro fertilisation, oocyte freezing, cryopreservation of ovarian tissue that can be subsequently transplanted by ortho- or heterotopic autograft, and cryopreservation of ovarian tissue for in vitro maturation] have been evaluated, and the patient and her partner can be informed of these options; these techniques are discussed in another chapter of this thematic issue. Organ-sparing surgery aimed at preserving the uterus and at least one ovary is increasingly being used in the treatment of early-stage gynaecological cancers in women of childbearing age.
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