30
THE HEALTH | APRIL, 2020
| Issue |
Cancer
patients can
still conceive
with OTC.
Malaysia’s first
ovarian tissue
cryopservation
centre
Understanding
ovarian tissue
cryopservation
Preserving the fertility
of a child who has cancer
It is advisable to discuss with children
treated for cancer as soon as they are
old enough to understand. There are
numerous ways to preserve a child’s
fertility. For a girl who has begun
puberty, options might include oocyte
(egg) and embryo cryopreservation.
Girls who have cancer treatment
before puberty can opt for ovarian
tissue cryopreservation (OTC). But
OTC can also be done after puberty.
OTC treatment
Some women will not be able to
undergo egg or embryo freezing due
the urgent need to begin treatment.
They may have the option to preserve
fertility with ovarian tissue freezing.
This is an experimental procedure in
which an entire ovary, or pieces of an
ovary, are removed during a surgery.
The ovarian tissue is brought to a
special laboratory to be processed.
The outer layer of the ovary, which
holds the eggs, will be removed, cut
into small pieces and frozen. A small
amount of the tissue will be used for
research to find the best way to help
women have children using ovarian
tissue. The rest of the tissue will be
stored for your personal use
New hope for cancer
patients as HUKM's
Advance Reproductive
Centre (ARC) can adress
the issue of infertility
BY CAMILIA REZALI
A
DIAGNOSIS of cancer,
especially at a young age can
be demoralizing. One of the
side eff ects of cancer, or more
specifi cally, treatment of cancer,
is infertility. Depending on the
types of cancers, most treatments
may greatly lessen or even
entirely remove the men or women’s ability
to conceive.
In such, if you’re going to undergo
cancer treatment such as chemotherapy
and radiotherapy and want to preserve
your fertility, you might want to visit
Malaysia’s fi rst Advance Reproductive
Centre (ARC) specialising on Ovarian
Tissue Cryopreservation (OTC). Operated by
Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
(HUKM) it is the fi rst centre in Malaysia to
off er the OTC service.
Said Dr Mohd Faizal Ahmad from the
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
at HUKM, “For many years, I have had
patients who reached menopause at an early
age after going through cancer treatment.
These patients did not know who to refer to
or how to avoid such condition. We want to
address this by having a centre to propagate
to the nation that OTC treatment is now
available at HUKM.”
Dr Faizal believes the new oncofertility
centre will not only help to increase the
fertility rate among cancer patients in
Malaysia, but will also create awareness
among parents on the importance of
a child’s fertility preservation. “It is
important to preserve a cancer patient’s
fertility before going for cancer treatment.
That is why I told them, we really need to set
up this service.
“There are already multiple oncofertility
centres in Malaysia which off er methods
such as oocyte freezing and embryo
freezing. But, there is no centre in
Malaysia that uses the ovarian tissue
cryopreservation method,” said Dr Faizal.
Being the fi rst OTC centre in the country,
HUKM will act as a nucleus networking
with other centres and help to channel
patients for suitable treatment.
The targeted patients for HUKM’s
cryopreservation treatment are those aged
from 16 to 22 years old with lymphoma,
leukaemia and breast cancer. This is the age
where preserving their fertility is important
before going for cancer treatment like
chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
The Oncofertility Consortium of the
United States under Professor Teresa K.
Woodruff will be linked to HUKM’s ARC. The
main mentor throughout the procedures
at the centre will be Professor Nao Suzuki
from the Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology, St. Marianna University School
of Medicine, Japan.
Dr Faizal said that the oncofertility
cryopreservation service will be carried out
by doctors who are professionally trained
by the Japanese team. On top of having
professionally trained doctors, the OTC will
only cost about RM5,000 to RM8,000 per
patient. The price off ered is lower by 75 per
cent compared to other oncofertility centres.
“HUKM has already gone through the
ethical clearance from UKMMC and we
have purchased the products of OTC. We
are waiting for patients to come after the
launch.
As soon as we launch the oncofertility
service, we are looking forward to working
together with the National Cancer Council
of Malaysia (MAKNA) in raising funds for
the patients,” said Dr Faizal. — The Health
There are
already
multiple
oncofertility
centres in
Malaysia
which offer
methods
such as
oocyte
freezing
and embryo
freezing.
But, there
is no centre
in Malaysia
that uses
the ovarian
tissue cryo-
preservation
method.”
— Dr Mohd
Faizal
Candidates for OTC
To be eligible for ovarian tissue
freezing, you must meet the following
criteria:
You aren’t able to have your eggs
or embryos frozen before treatment.
Although egg or embryo freezing is
generally the best option to preserve
fertility, not everyone is able to have
this done. Reasons for not being able
to freeze eggs or embryos include:
Being too young. Before puberty,
girls don’t have mature eggs to
be removed for freezing.
Not being able to delay your
cancer treatment for the two
weeks it takes to have your eggs
or embryos frozen.
Having received recent
chemotherapy.
You will be getting cancer
treatment that will cause a significant
loss of eggs and put you at a high risk
of infertility (can’t have biological
children) after treatment.
You have enough eggs to have this
option work for you if you need to use
your ovarian tissue in the future. If
you are over 40 years or if you have
already lost most of your eggs from
past cancer treatment, you won’t have
enough eggs to have ovarian tissue
freezing work for you.
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