Fertility Preservation and Treatment for Cervical Cancer

Women between ages 30-40 have the highest incidence of cervical cancer in the UK and survival rates in this group are over 85%. Traditional treatments for both early and more locally advanced disease render women infertile but treatments which allow them to maintain the potential for having children are now available and should be discussed prior to the commencement of definitive cancer treatment. Fertility-sparing surgery is now widely available for early stage disease and ovarian preservation with transposition out of the radiotherapy field should be considered in more advanced disease. Assisted reproductive techniques can be used prior to treatment or after ovarian transposition to allow embryo, egg or ovarian tissue storage with ever-improving success rates.