Fertility Preservation in Women Who Will Have Gonadotoxic Therapy or Hematopoetic Stem Cell Transplantation, and in Women With Sickle Cell Disease

Treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and pelvic radiotherapy for cancer or other serious medical illnesses has the potential to markedly increase the risk of gonadotoxicity leading to infertility in women. Females who are post-menarchal with these risk factors may be candidates for fertility preservation through oocyte cryopreservation before ovarian failure ensues. For example, sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common hemoglobinopathy in the United States (3). Hypoxic conditions cause the abnormal hemoglobin molecule to undergo sickling which leads to painful microvascular occlusion. SCD is associated with multiple organ system dysfunction as well as neurological and pulmonary complications, which can lead to early mortality. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only treatment currently available for SCD that results in a complete cure. In patients who have undergone HSCT with a matched sibling, event-free survival has been as high as 85%-95%. Multiple studies have unfortunately demonstrated that infertility and premature ovarian insufficiency are quite common following HSCT. Specifically in our patient population with sickle cell disease, we have recently found largely preserved ovarian function prior to transplantation, but profound gonadotoxicity following transplant (unpublished). This underscores the clinical need for additional, effective fertility preservation methods for our at-risk populations.