In vitro oocyte maturation: the French experience in the preservation of female fertility in cancer patients

Although the incidence of cancer rises, treatments have become more efficient, resulting in an increase in the number of patients who survive the therapy. The survivors, however, are submitted to their long-term consequences. One of the main side-effects of many chemotherapy regimens, for women in reproductive age, is premature ovarian failure. Thus in developed countries, young women undergoing chemotherapy are oriented about the possibility of preserving their fertility. Traditionally, cryopreservation of oocytes and embryos performed after ovarian stimulation technique is considered the best option because it offers better results. However, many patients are not eligible for ovarian stimulation due to time limit for the beginning of chemotherapy or an underlying estrogen-dependent disease. For these patients, the in vitro maturation of oocytes technique (IVM) has been proposed, allowing the immediate capture of oocytes without stimulation by exogenous gonadotropins, regardless of cycle phase. In this article, we discussed the French experience in oocyte cryopreservation for cancer patients.