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Preserving fertility during cancer treatment

Nature Medicine volume 15, pages 1124–1125 (2009)Cite this article

Imatinib (trade name Gleevec) preserves fertility in female mice treated with the common chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin. Imatinib seems to block an apoptotic pathway activated by cisplatin in ovarian germ cells (pages 1179–1185). The findings could lead to new ways to protect germ cells from the damaging effects of cancer treatment.

For many individuals with cancer, the decision to protect their fertility from the damaging effects of radiation and chemotherapy is complicated by their age, marital status, the time they have to delay treatment and, sometimes, the uncertainty of surviving their disease. In the past two years, a remarkable alignment between oncologists and fertility specialists has increased access to information about the fertility threats of treatment and the options for fertility preservation1. Men and pubertal boys, for instance, now routinely have access to sperm banks and home sperm collection kits2. But girls and young women have traditionally been left behind in both the discussion about fertility threats and the options available to them. That, too, is quickly changing.

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Figure 1: Imatinib protects primoridal follicles from cisplatin-mediated death.

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  1. Teresa K. Woodruff is at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.,

    Teresa K Woodruff

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  1. Teresa K Woodruff
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Correspondence to Teresa K Woodruff.

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Woodruff, T. Preserving fertility during cancer treatment. Nat Med 15, 1124–1125 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm1009-1124

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