Fundamental and translational research on ovarian tissue and oocytes for fertility preservation in children and young women with cancer

Long-term survival rates of patients affected by malignant diseases are steadily improving. Unfortunately, cancer survivors often face the prospect of menopause and infertility because of off-target chemo- and/or radiotherapy effects, often resulting in a dramatic drop in quality of life. There is growing patient demand for fertility preservation in clinical practice. Several options are now offered by increasing numbers of reproductive centers worldwide to preserve fertility in cancer patients, including embryo, oocyte or ovarian tissue cryopreservation.
Although considerable progress has been made, many aspects of female oncofertility still require optimization. In order to provide the best fertility preservation option to each patient, the promoters of this project recognize the importance of combining the expertise of 3 leading Belgian research groups in the field.
This exchange of knowledge and skills will essentially seek to:
A. develop a safe and efficient oocyte in vitro maturation system
B. provide insight into different key events in human egg development
C. identify processes implicated in chemotherapy-induced ovarian damage in order to develop new therapies to prevent premature ovarian failure
D. improve the efficiency and safety of ovarian tissue transplantation to be applicable to all types of cancer.
The prospect of maintaining the capacity to conceive after disease remission provides some comfort during the most difficult moments of cancer therapy.