Several methods of cervical cancer treatment can reduce the chances of getting pregnant.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting women. This condition also has an impact on female fertility and can make it hard to hamil naturally.
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, adviser and consultant at Birla Fertility and IVF, Dr. Vinita Das, said the common symptoms include vaginal discharge, bleeding after sexual intercourse, and pelvic pain. Cervical cancer starts in a woman’s cervix which is the narrow lower end of the uterus. Certain strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) and sexually transmitted infections are the reasons behind the occurrence of this disease.
Cervical cancer requires extensive treatment at an advanced stage which can negatively affect fertility. Several treatment methods cervical cancer can reduce the chances of getting pregnant.
If the disease is not diagnosed early, it is more likely that a radial hysterectomy will be performed, leading to removal of the uterus or uterus. In this case, the patient will not be able to bear children in the future. This also applies if the ovaries are removed, as the patient will not be able to produce any eggs.
“HPV cells can live in more areas of the body than the genitals. It sometimes appears in the anus, mouth, and throat. Skin-to-skin contact, such as during oral sex, can transmit the virus,” he was quoted as saying Hindustan TimesWednesday (25/1/2023).
Also, if the treatment involves radiation therapy, the ovaries may be exposed to high-energy rays, which can damage them. This will lead to infertility as some of the eggs will be destroyed causing premature menopause.
In addition, women undergoing radiation therapy face a high probability of miscarriage or premature birth because the uterus is exposed to radiation. Therefore, doctors usually recommend the following procedures:
1. Egg freezing
This procedure is also known as oocyte cryopreservation. A woman’s eggs are harvested after undergoing an IVF process in which the ovaries are stimulated with a drug called gonadotropin and an egg retrieval procedure is performed.
The obtained oocytes or eggs are then frozen in this procedure. It aims to preserve reproductive potential in women of childbearing age.
2. Embryo freezing
It involves an IVF cycle in which eggs harvested from the woman are fertilized with sperm from the male partner. The embryos formed were then stored by cryopreservation
3. Ovarian cortex freezing
Ovarian cortex freezing is an experimental and promising form of fertility preservation that involves the cryopreservation of parts of the ovarian cortex, which contain the egg. It has been increasingly used for fertility preservation in younger cancer patients when freezing of eggs or embryos is not an option.
