Ovarian cancer it's still a problem that exists with little hope for many women. One in 55 women develops this cancer and in most cases (up to 80%) it is diagnosed in advanced development, since it is still there is no conclusive proof nor any screening that detects its presence.
The majority of women who are already in their 40s are those who already begin to develop this type of cancer and much more among women between the ages of 65 and 84. It is certainly not a statistic that is always correct in age, since there are much younger women who suffer from it and are still of childbearing age and with the hope of creating a family. For these cases Are there any chances to get pregnant?
Ovarian Cancer Treatments Will Determine If You Can Have Children
Depending on the degree with which this type of cancer is diagnosed, it will be possible to evaluate if there is a long-term possibility of being fertile or implanting some type of methodology to be able to have fertilization:
Treatments such as radiation and drug-based therapy
Screening tests and history determine the type of treatment that is required for each case. There are cases in which you can create a local treatment where you can perform local surgery without having to damage the ovaries or use radiation therapy for ovarian cancer. With local surgery without removal, a temporary rest can be done so that the ovaries can function normally again if they have not been affected.
There are other types of treatments where it is used the use of drugs to reach cancer cells. They will be administered orally or directly into the bloodstream. It can be used chemotherapy with an injected drug by vein to reduce or eradicate cancer cells. The hormone therapy and targeted therapy they are also strong drug-based treatments.
Any of these treatments, whether chemotherapy, drug-based therapies or X-ray directed radiotherapy for eradication, are aggressive procedures and therefore affect fertility. Any method used of this nature and that has been applied for any cancer already affects and causes alterations in the ovaries and causes the absence of menstruation temporarily or permanently. It would take time and wait for an observation to conclude if you can have children.
Treatment with surgery
Treatment by surgery is the one that is generally carried out. In most cases there is already an advanced stage of the tumor and it does not require surgery to remove the tumor and, where appropriate, the ovaries. Obviously, the removal of the ovaries prevents a woman from returning to her fertile state. If there are no ovaries there are no ovules, and therefore with practically zero chances of pregnancy.
Although not all cases have been impossible. It is the case of a woman who had her baby thanks to the vitrification of oocytes, carried out by the medical team of the Dexeus University Institute of Barcelona. Vanesa, a 28-year-old woman, had ovarian cancer and had one of her ovaries removed. The medical team determined that if their desire was to have children they could apply a methodology: for a period of time underwent ovarian stimulation to obtain oocytes in the other of your ovaries and thus be able to freeze them.
Some time later, the second ovary had to be removed and a year and a half later, after overcoming the cancer, part of the embryos resulting from the vitrified oocytes were implanted. After 39 weeks her son Mario was born.
This is hopeful news for all women that they can still continue their struggle to be mothers. In this case, the director of Oncology at Dexeus, Rafael Fabregas, affirms that in many cases with cancer, life does not end. "With the new medical advances in recent years a woman can survive perfectly and there is still time to fulfill her desire to be a mother." It is quite encouraging for all mothers who have to suffer this traumatic case.