Surgical approaches towards fertility preservation in young patients with early invasive cervical carcinoma

Cervical cancer still remains one of the major problems in developing countries. The last decade of 20th century has seen a trend towards more conservative surgical approaches in the treatment of early-stage disease in young patients. The trend of delaying childbearing, nowadays, increases preservation of fertility, and reproductive function is a major concern when counseling these young women with regard to the effects of treatment for cervical cancer. Radical trachelectomy, either with abdominal or vaginal surgical approach, showed promise as treatment option in young patients with early cervical cancer. The basic principle of such a surgical approach is an operation aiming at preserving the uterine body and removing the cervix, parametrium, with bilateral pelvic lymphadenectomy, and creating a utero-vaginal anastomosis, either laparoscopically or by laparotomy. Both surgical approaches are evaluated after a search of the relevant literature in Pub Med or Medline.