Fertility Preservation Techniques in Ahmedabad Help Cancer Survivors Have Normal Life Post Chemotherapy: Nova IVI Fertility
AHMEDABAD, India, June 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
At the young age of 27, Jhanvi (name changed), who had been married for three months, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), a type of cancer that affects the immune system. Starting a family had always been a part of the plan for newly-married Jhanvi and her husband, Rajesh. That is why they were advised to freeze their embryos before Jhanvi started her chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Six embryos were formed using Jhanvi's eggs and Rajesh's sperm and cryopreserved for use post the cancer treatment.
Cancer is a rising concern in India. A large number of men and women under the age of 40 are being diagnosed with various forms of cancer. This, in turn, is impacting their fertility in a big, often unnoticed, way. There is now a growing population of young survivors who face quality-of-life issues, including the prospect of having a child post cancer treatment. This is when oncofertility or fertility preservation comes to the rescue. Fertility preservation is an effort to help individuals retain their fertility or ability to conceive.
Dr. Manish Banker, Director, Nova IVI Fertility, said, "For the thousands of people battling cancer in India, a strong focus is on the life after cancer. As women in their late 30s or in early 40s face difficulties in conceiving babies naturally, egg freezing, also called oocyte cryopreservation, can help. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy involve certain drugs and exposure to radiations, which can effectively kill cancer cells and prevent relapses, but may also cause damage to the gametes i.e. eggs and sperms, causing difficulties in conceiving later. Fertility preservation gives hope to have a family after surviving cancer. Cancer patients have the option to freeze their eggs, sperms, or embryos prior to cancer treatment, so that if infertility unfortunately occurs, they can still conceive through IVF when they are cured."
Dr. Sandeep Shah, Fertility Consultant at Nova IVI Fertility, Ahmedabad, said about cancer and infertility, "Cancer may not directly affect the fertility, unless it's ovarian or testicular. However, the anti-cancer drugs can affect the ovaries and eventually reduce the reproductive capacity of women. Women are born with a finite number of eggs and in some, the treatment with chemotherapy and radiotherapy may lead to complete or partial loss of fertility potential. Some women may reach menopause immediately after chemotherapy, resulting in complete cessation of their monthly cycles. While others, whose menstrual cycles resume after cancer treatments, can conceive naturally only if their ovarian reserve is good both before and after the treatment. The effects of chemotherapy or radiotherapy in men include compromised sperm count, motility, morphology, and DNA integrity."
Since oncologists are generally the first of doctors whom patients visit to get a screening done, it is important to spread awareness among them initially. Oncologists have to explain how cancer treatment can affect the fertility potential and also discuss the options of fertility preservation with cancer patients before they start chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
Fertility preservation technique
Infertility resulting from cancer treatment can lead to great psychosocial stress. Cancer survivors who are completely cured typically view themselves as healthy enough to be good parents and view their experience of illness as one that can enrich their parental role. Young women in their child-bearing years can preserve their oocytes (women who do not have a partner) or freeze their embryos (married women) once they are diagnosed with cancer. Men can freeze a semen sample before cancer treatment.
Not every cancer patient will have the opportunity to preserve their fertility before chemotherapy or radiation treatment, unlike Jhanvi. There are many instances where it becomes too late for a cancer patient to take the decision of preserving the oocytes or embryos. For those not fortunate to have frozen eggs or embryos prior to cancer treatment and whose gametes have been completely depleted, IVF with donor eggs is a common solution. Egg donation is often a successful treatment for infertility in women who can no longer produce healthy eggs.
About Nova IVI Fertility
Nova IVI Fertility (NIF) is the among the largest service providers in the fertility space. NIF aims to bring advanced Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) to India in partnership with IVI of Spain. The partnership has resulted in a substantial addition to Nova's IVF services and technology, including proprietary software, training, and quality management. With IVI's know-how and vast international expertise, NIF brings the same exceptional standard of processes, protocols, and policies to India.
In addition to providing core procedures such as IUI, IVF, and Andrology services, NIF offers several state-of-the-art technologies such as Vitrification for preserving embryos and eggs, ERA to find out the timing of the uterus' capacity to accept embryos, PGS and PGD for the transfer of genetically normal embryos - all procedures that significantly improve the chances of a pregnancy following IVF-ICSI, even in patients with multiple previous failures. NIF currently operates 20 fertility centres in India (Ahmedabad (2), Bengaluru (3), Chennai, Coimbatore, Hisar, Hyderabad, Indore, Jalandhar, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai (2), New Delhi (2), Pune, Surat, and Vijayawada).
For further information, visit http://www.novaivifertility.com
Media Contact:
Raghavi R
[email protected]
+91(80)67680615
Asst. Manager, PR,
Nova IVI Fertility
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