Ovarian tissue cryopreservation from contemporary indications to cutting edge research

Abstract

Over the last three decades, survival rate from malignancies has steadily increased, turning major focus on quality of life in remission. Unfortunately, a major side effect of medical interventions including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and/or surgery is premature ovarian failure and infertility for many patients. Ovarian tissue cryopreservation is an experimental technique used to preserve reproductive potential in patients who are pre-pubertal, must urgently undergo gonadotoxic treatment or who have other medical conditions requiring treatment that may undermine ovarian reserve and will lead to sub or infertility. We will review the indications, available techniques of tissue harvesting, and methods for freezing and autotransplanting cortical ovarian tissue. We will discuss outcomes, the potential risk of reintroducing malignancy and lastly, cutting-edge research models being developed in the field.