Fertiprotekt

The network Fertiprotekt is a company incorporated in Germany 2006 Cooperation between university centers, clinics and private practices. The network has since been expanded to the entire German-speaking countries and currently includes about 100 institutions from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Objectives

The aim of the network is, women and men before and the ability to offer after chemotherapy or radiation therapy, advice on scientific evidence regarding their fertility and to leave where appropriate, conduct measures to protect their fertility. The advice to and the implementation of fertility-preserving measures in accordance with the Code of the network is not profit-oriented.

Background

By now significantly better prognosis in cancers of the quality of life increasing importance to after having overcome a treatment of the disease. The fears for the preservation of fertility in young men and women take an important place. The most common cancers that are diagnosed under the age of 40 years, are breast cancer, melanoma, cervical cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and leukemias. One of the biggest problems in women who have undergone chemotherapy or radiation therapy, is the premature ovarian exhaustion ( premature ovarian failure) and the infertility associated with it. Alone in breast cancer is one of about 200 patients a year in Germany needing greater desire for children from. In men it can cause permanent damage to the testicular tissue by chemotherapy. Because of advances in reproductive medicine are now a variety of fertility protection, so the fertility protective methods. The techniques include the administration of GnRH agonists, ovarian stimulation with the cryopreservation of unfertilised or fertilized oocytes, as well as the cryopreservation of ovarian tissue. Also, a shift of the ovaries from the small pool ( Ovartransposition ) for protection against damage caused by radiation therapy is possible.

Activities

The network Fertiprotekt has made international pioneering work in five areas:

• It national, comprehensive care structures in the field of fertility protection were created that apply to other countries as a model.
• Treatment recommendations have been developed that allow a uniform and scientific approach.
• It called Lutealphasenstimulation was introduced, which allowed the start of a hormone stimulation for the recovery of oocytes at any stage of the menstrual cycle. In order to carry out a oocyte is significantly shortened in time and chemotherapy can be started earlier.
• The combination of a removal of ovarian tissue cryopreservation, immediately followed by a hormone stimulation for the recovery of ova was first carried out by centers of the network. This technique allows a significant increase in the birth chance.
• The first birth after transplantation of ovarian tissue, which was transported to a central Cryobank after collection by overnight transport, was obtained from the network. This has been proved that taken from ovarian tissue in specialized centers can be centrally processed and stored.

Workshops of the network are performed annually. The centers involved are required to regularly attend these annual meetings.

Problems

Some measures, such as sperm cryopreservation and in vitro fertilization ( IVF) are long established. Others were a few years ago introduced as the cryopreservation of ovarian tissue before chemotherapy for later transplantation and cryopreservation unfertilisierter oocytes. These services are therefore partially supported by the statutory health insurance in Germany.