Cryopreservation gives hope to cancer patients to have kids post-treatment

Cancerous tumours and cancer treatment can affect the ability to conceive a child or maintain a pregnancy to differing degrees. — Photos: dpa

CERTAIN cancers and their treatment can cause infertility in both males and females. But there’s a way to preserve it: a process called cryopreservation, in which sperm or unfertilised eggs are frozen and stored at extremely low temperatures in liquid nitrogen for future use.

When eggs or sperm can’t be collected for some reason, ovarian or testicular tissue can also be frozen in this way in an effort to preserve fertility.