The surgical technique consists of preserving the uterus and removing only certain parts of the ovaries.
- Ovarian cancer is more common after 60 but can affect young women
- Patients can be treated with fertility-preserving surgery
- Only 9% of patients who have been treated in this way have had to resort to in-vitro fertilization
4,500 cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed each year. Generally, they affect women over 60, but the disease can also affect young women. For them, it is essential to avoid sterility, which is one of the possible consequences of surgical treatment. Swedish researchers show that it is possible to preserve the fertility of these women, in a study published in Fertility & Sterility.
An effective technique
In Sweden, 700 women develop ovarian cancer each year: for 20% of them, the tumor is said to be borderline, i.e. it is abnormal lesions, but not cancer. strictly speaking. A third of these tumors affect women of childbearing age. Most of the time, doctors treat them with fertility preservation surgery. Studies on this method of treatment have mainly focused on its effectiveness, but its consequences on fertility have been little analyzed.
Few use of in vitro fertilization
For this research, the Swedish scientists relied on national health registers. They collected data from women aged 18 to 40 who had undergone this type of operation between 2008 and 2015. A control group was formed with information concerning women who had undergone radical surgery, i.e. removal of the ‘uterus. In total, the sample brought together 277 women: their survival rate was 99%, and there was no difference between those who underwent fertility preservation surgery and the others. 23% of women operated on using this method had a child after surgery. Only 9% of them needed in vitro fertilization. “The ability to procreate appears to be preserved with fertility preservation surgery, points out Gry Johansen, lead author of the study, this knowledge is absolutely necessary to be able to advise and treat young women suffering from borderline ovarian tumours.” In France, the data show that the average age of appearance of this type of tumor is 10 years lower than that of malignant tumours. As in Sweden, for a third of cases, borderline tumors concern young patients.
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