Cryopreservation of Ovarian Tissue by Vitrification

Recent reports state that cancer incidence in children, adolescents and young adults has seen a slight increase since the 1970s [1], but death rates in patients aged 0–19 years have continued to fall. Current 5-year overall survival estimates for childhood cancer exceed 83% (around 90% for most childhood hematological malignancies), translating into a growing population of adult survivors of childhood cancer [1, 2]. It is widely known that most cancer treatments like chemotherapy, radiotherapy and bone marrow transplantation are highly toxic to the gonads, putting girls and women of reproductive age at risk of premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) and subsequent infertility [3–8]. Moreover, non-oncological hematological diseases (thalassemia, aplastic anemia), autoimmune disorders (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus) [9–11] and other ovarian pathologies [8] often require treatment that may impair future fertility, exponentially increasing the number of women likely to suffer from iatrogenic menopause or POI.