How to freeze eggs before breast cancer treatment

I am 25 years old, just found out I have breast cancer, have to have surgery early next month, then take medicine continuously for 5 years.

I want to freeze eggs to preserve fertility, is there a separate procedure for cancer patients? ( Nhu Quynh, Ho Chi Minh City )

Reply:

Egg freezing is a method of cryopreserving mature egg cells. This technique helps women take the initiative in the timing of pregnancy and childbirth without being affected by the risk of reduced ovarian reserve due to increasing age or diseases that reduce reproductive health, including breast cancer.

Normally, at the Center for Reproductive Support, Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City (IVF Tam Anh Ho Chi Minh City), women who want to store eggs need to carry out administrative procedures, such as taking fingerprints, updating images to the hospital's internal biometric system, and issuing identification codes...

Patients undergo ovarian reserve assessment tests, pre-operative tests, and then begin ovarian stimulation on the second day of the menstrual cycle with a regimen appropriate to their physical condition. Depending on each person's condition, the ovarian stimulation period ranges from 10 to 12 days. During that time, the doctor monitors the follicles by ultrasound and hormonal testing to adjust the medication accordingly.

When the eggs reach the standard size on ultrasound and endocrine values, the patient is anesthetized and the doctor aspirates the eggs, then transfers them to the lab right next door. Lab specialists filter, wash, select mature eggs of good quality and put them into specialized equipment for cryopreservation using modern vitrification techniques. At this time, in a liquid nitrogen environment of minus 196 degrees Celsius, the egg's biological clock completely stops and is protected to the best quality.

Egg freezing technician preserves fertility for patients at IVF Tam Anh. Photo: Phuong Trinh — Egg freezing technician preserves fertility for patients at IVF Tam Anh. Photo: *Phuong Trinh*

You have about two weeks to start your breast cancer surgery and long-term estrogen-blocking treatment. Therefore, if you want to freeze your eggs to preserve your fertility, you don't have much time to delay any longer, so you should go to the hospital to perform the necessary procedures as soon as possible.

Regarding the procedure, the doctor of the Reproductive Support Department consults with the Oncology Department to develop the earliest and most appropriate ovarian stimulation protocol for the condition, meaning you do not need to wait until the second day of your menstrual cycle but are stimulated immediately. The goal is that within about two weeks, the ovaries will have relatively mature follicles. After that, the doctor will aspirate and freeze the eggs as usual.

Eggs are preserved in quality without time limit. After 5 years of treatment, using hormone inhibitors, and your health is stable, you can return to IVF Tam Anh HCMC to perform the egg identification procedure, thaw, perform in vitro fertilization and give birth to a healthy baby.

MD.CKI Chau Hoang Phuong Thao
Deputy Director of the Center for Reproductive Support,
Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City

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