ABSTRACT
The diagnosis of breast cancer is a clear threat to mortality. Birth and death are the givens of human existence. To confront one and the potential loss of the other simultaneously is a huge emotional and psychological burden. Most oncological treatments for breast cancer in younger women endanger fertility. It is essential that those members of the multidisciplinary team who have the earliest contact with these pre-menopausal patients think about fertility and ask the woman whether the future possibility of having a child is something that she wants to consider. Adjuvant chemotherapy is commonly used in pre-menopausal breast cancer, aims to reduce the risk of disease recurrence, death. The reason why suppressing the ovaries works is thought to involve putting primordial follicles out of cycle so that they are therefore less metabolically active, re-creating a pre-pubertal state. Ovarian cortex cryo-preservation is starting to be used in young patients where there is no time to undergo a cycle of egg collection.
