September: Ovarian and Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

Sadly, these diseases are often overlooked, misunderstood or misdiagnosed. This makes it crucial to raise awareness of these cancers because the earlier a woman is diagnosed, the better her chance of survival. It is also crucial for a younger woman with one of these cancers to know that there is a way to preserve her fertility, which will be negatively affected by certain cancer treatments.

In this article, we share information about ovarian and cervical cancer to help women recognise the symptoms, and also shed light on how fertility can be preserved.

Ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is cancer in the ovaries, the two organs that make female hormones and produce a woman’s eggs.

An estimated 90% of women don’t know what the four main symptoms of ovarian cancer are! Raising awareness about ovarian cancer can help more women recognise the symptoms earlier and get diagnosed as soon as possible. Because this cancer often goes undetected until it has reached advanced stages, the survival rate is low, with a five-year survival rate of less than 50% percent.

The four main symptoms of ovarian cancer are bloating, stomach pain, finding it hard to eat and needing to urinate more. These can sometimes be confused with other conditions, such as IBS. But if these symptoms appear and are persistent, it’s time to get medical attention.

There are three types of ovarian cancer in adults. Ovarian epithelial cancer begins in the tissue covering the ovary, lining the fallopian tube, or the peritoneum. Ovarian germ cell tumors start in the egg or germ cells. Ovarian low malignant potential tumors begin in the tissue covering the ovary, and are characterized by abnormal cells that may become cancer, but usually do not.

The risk factors for developing ovarian cancer include a family history and the presence of inherited gene mutations. There are tests that can detect mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which increase the risk of female breast and ovarian cancers and some additional types of cancer. Other risk factors include the use of estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy and the use of certain fertility drugs.

Cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is cancer of the cervix, the lower end of the uterus that extends to the vagina.

Nearly 600,000 new cervical cancer cases are diagnosed every year and, devastatingly, more than 300,000 women each year die from cervical cancer, even though it is one of the most highly preventable and curable forms of cancer.

Two human papillomavirus (HPV) types are responsible for nearly 50% of high-grade cervical pre-cancers. Vaccination against HPV and screening and treatment of pre-cancer lesions is a cost-effective way to prevent cervical cancer.

If diagnosed at an early stage and treated promptly, cervical cancer can also be cured.

In South Africa, Cervical Cancer Awareness Month is commemorated annually in September to encourage women to do screening and prevent the cancer.

Cancer treatment and your fertility

Having cancer and the resulting treatment can affect your fertility. All women with cancer should discuss the risk of infertility and fertility preservation with their doctors as soon as possible – and before cancer treatment begins.

What is fertility preservation?

Thanks to advances in medical science, women can now choose to preserve and protect their fertility through options such as egg freezing.

Used in mainstream medical industry for more than a decade, egg freezing is now a safe and painless procedure and is often the only hope for a woman is at risk of losing her fertility as a result of cancer therapy and treatment.

It has been more than 20 years since the first birth resulting from a frozen egg was reported in 1986. Two breakthroughs have since allowed scientists to overcome the original egg freezing problems. The first is the development of a new culture media system that protects the egg from damage during the egg freezing/thawing process. This culture system dehydrates eggs during egg freezing and rehydrates the egg during thawing, thereby minimizing the formation of ice crystals during the egg freezing process.

Another breakthrough was ultra rapid freezing (vitrification) which makes it is possible to avoid ice formation that would otherwise damage the eggs. In this way it is now possible to eliminate both important impediments to safe egg freezing and achieve good survival of frozen eggs.

Current evidence shows that children born from frozen eggs have no increase in chromosomal abnormalities, birth defects or developmental deficits, and can achieve success rates comparable to standard IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation).

Egg freezing has become “mainstream” since 2008 and provides women with a viable option for preserving their fertility into the future.

Where can you have eggs frozen?

For more than a decade, Cape Fertility has offered egg freezing as a viable option for women to preserve their fertility.

We are a leading fertility clinic providing advanced preservation of your future fertility through the latest in egg freezing techniques.

Over the years, we have streamlined the process of egg retrieval, preservation and protection, which spans around two weeks, into five simple steps, and our specialist team will take great care of you every step of the way.

Egg Freezing in Five Steps

Step 1: Evaluating Your Fertility and Egg Reserve

Step 2: Ovarian Stimulation

Step 3: Egg Retrieval

Step 4: Egg Freezing

Step 5: Egg Storage

Our egg freezing is performed by specialists, whose primary concern is your medical safety. In addition, we use the most advanced technology available today, including a new culture media system and a Cryotec vitrification system to ensure very high egg survival rates.

Once frozen, your eggs are kept safe and secure in liquid nitrogen at an even temperature of -196 degrees Celsius until you are ready to use them.

Cape Fertility is a leading fertility clinic registered and accredited by the Southern African Society for Reproductive Medicine and Gynaecological Endoscopy (SASREG), so you can be assured your future fertility is in professional hands. All the procedures in egg freezing process are done at our purpose-built premises in Claremont, Cape Town. Our state-of-the-art facilities, along with our experienced team, ensure all the latest fertility treatments – including egg freezing – are offered with great success.

Your first step in preserving your fertility by freezing your eggs at Cape Fertility is simply to contact us by clicking here… our highly qualified and experienced fertility specialists will gladly answer your questions and address any concerns you may have.

We value each individual patient, and we look forward to providing you with our signature individualised and personalised care when you have eggs retrieved, frozen and stored in a friendly, relaxed and caring environment at our advanced, purpose-built facilities in the beautiful city of Cape Town.