ESPE Abstracts

Recent years have seen a huge increase in interest in fertility preservation in girls and young women, spurred on by advances in survival from childhood cancer such that long term survival is now the expectation for the great majority of children. This turns attention to the long-term late effects, of which potential loss of fertility is high on the list of patient priorities. In this talk, I will address the question of who needs fertility preservation amongst girls, both with cancer and with other conditions with population-based data on how many girls with cancer subsequently go on to have children. Options for fertility preservation will be discussed with the key pros and cons of each described. While the main focus in the past has been on girls and young women with cancer, there is also an important need amongst girls with other conditions of which the most widely discussed is Turner syndrome. The current status of fertility preservation in such girls and young women will be discussed. As well as discussing the advances in this field, we will also raise issues where significant doubts and uncertainties remain. This includes in patient selection, optimising the techniques for the procedures involved, and the issue of subsequent fertility assessment and indeed late fertility preservation.