Supervisors info:
Θωμάκος Νικόλαος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Δρακάκης Πέτρος, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Σταύρος Σοφοκλής, Επίκουρος Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
Ovarian cancer is one of the most common malignancies of the female reproductive system. Thanks to modern and personalized treatments, women of childbearing potential have a high survival rate after treatment.
This review examines approaches aimed at maintaining fertility, when tumors of gynecological interest are identified at an early stage and the outcomes of pregnancy are highlighted.
A literature search was conducted in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases for studies in English, from the beginning of the review until June 2022.
Chemotherapy and fertility sparing surgery (FSS), after careful selection of patients, retain the ability to fulfill the desire to start a family, without compromising long-term survival. But while ensuring future fertility is crucial for young women with cancer, the success rates of fertility maintenance surgeries are not high. For patients with marginal malignancies, FSS should be performed, even if peritoneal implants are discovered during the initial operation.
Young women with endometrial carcinoma of stage I, who underwent FSS, had a relatively good prognosis, equal to those who underwent conventional radical surgery. In patients with stage II ovarian epithelial carcinoma, FSS was not associated with deterioration in overall survival. However, the recurrence rate is significant. Regarding laparoscopic FSS for early ovarian cancer, the available data are still limited.
In addition, as data on pregnancy rates and results after fertility treatments are also limited, it is difficult to provide accurate advice to patients in order to meet realistic expectations.
