Women with cancer can still have children thanks to ovarian tissue freezing

The Vietnam - France Obstetrics and Gynecology Conference 2025 was organized by the National Obstetrics Hospital in Hanoi, on November 9-10, with groundbreaking scientific reports on new developments in treatment practices, including the latest achievements in preserving fertility in women with cancer.

Phụ nữ ung thư vẫn có thể sinh con - Ảnh 1. — Professor Nguyen Duy Anh (left cover) congratulated international experts receiving the Medal for People's Health awarded by the leaders of the Ministry of Health.

According to Professor, Doctor Nguyen Duy Anh, Director of the Central Obstetrics Hospital, the application of artificial intelligence in obstetrics and gynecology practice and the preservation of women's fertility are two very new sessions at this scientific conference.

Emphasizing the human value in preserving the reproductive ability of women with cancer, Professor Anh said that in the past, we were only familiar with the idea of treatment as destruction, treatment as cutting when there was a disease. Now the need of patients is to treat the disease but still preserve reproductive functions; or women who do not have any disease, but want to prolong their reproductive ability when they are old.

"Preserving their ovaries, preserving their hormones so that when needed, they can re-implant that ovarian tissue, as well as giving them the ability to have their own hormones, without having to use foreign drugs, so that they can ensure their hormones are the same as when they were 30 years old forever. That is a very legitimate need," said Professor Anh.

Professor Anh said that with the above technique, the world is more than ten years ahead of us. There have been babies born from preserving ovarian tissue from mothers with ovarian cancer who had to have the cancerous parts removed.

"There was an 11-year-old patient with ovarian cancer who had to have her ovaries removed for treatment, but her healthy ovaries were preserved using this technique. 13 years later, the patient received a transplant and gave birth to a normal child. To date, hundreds of children around the world have been born from the preservation of ovarian tissue in mothers with ovarian cancer who had to have a part of their ovaries removed," said Professor Anh.

This technique is indicated for people with pelvic cancer and need to undergo radiation therapy. Because when undergoing radiation therapy, healthy ovaries are at high risk of being destroyed. Or in cases where women, due to certain conditions, wish to have children later, at the age of 40.

The Director of the Central Obstetrics Hospital shared: "This is due to the actual need from patients who want to preserve their fertility after getting sick, but with previous treatment methods they had to completely remove it, losing the chance to become a mother. However, we do not encourage women to perform this technique to have children later."

The Central Obstetrics Hospital will be the first unit to deploy this technique in Vietnam, with preparations in terms of human resources and equipment.

According to experts, with ovarian tissue preservation, a small part of ovarian tissue is taken and frozen according to a professional process, preserving the structure and function of the ovarian tissue. When pregnancy is desired, the tissue will be thawed and transplanted back into the body.

The 2025 Vietnam - France Obstetrics and Gynecology Conference with the participation of 1,500 delegates, more than 80 domestic and foreign reporters from France, Australia, Italy, Germany, Malaysia..., discussed the most "essential" topics in the field of obstetrics and gynecology: prenatal ultrasound diagnosis, preservation of reproductive function in cancer, gynecological cancer, genetics - prenatal diagnosis, assisted reproduction, placenta accreta, recurrent miscarriages, premature birth...

On this occasion, the Ministry of Health awarded the Medal for People's Health to foreign experts who have made many contributions to the Vietnamese health sector.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/phu-nu-mac-benh-ung-thu-van-co-the-sinh-con-nho-tru-mo-buong-trung-185251110154959322.htm