Ovarian tissue cryopreservation in breast cancer patients: glass half empty or glass half full?
Claus Y Andersen1, Jacques Donnez2, Erik Ernst3
1The Fertility Clinic, Copenhagen University Hospital Herlev, Herlev, Denmark; Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Abstract:
This is a commentary to a paper recently published in RBMOnline by Macklon and De Vos, in which they argue for a discontinuation of ovarian tissue freezing for fertility preservation in women with breast cancer. Instead, they suggest the use of oocyte vitrification following ovarian stimulation as the preferred method of fertility preservation. This commentary presents nine separate arguments that should be considered in the context of ovarian tissue freezing and fertility preservation in girls and women. Collectively, the authors support ovarian tissue freezing going forward and suggest continuing this procedure for fertility preservation in women with breast cancer. Ovarian tissue freezing represents several advantages for patients and provides them with more options following treatment compared with oocyte vitrification.
