Assessment of the Risk of Cancer Cell Reintroduction Prior to Ovarian Tissue Autotransplantation

The continuing improval in survival rates among young cancer patients carries with it a growing concern regarding potential long-term complications, such as treatment induced ovarian insufficiency and infertility. Fertility preservation has therefore become an important element of the management of these patients. Among the currently available clinical procedures, ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation has recently proved to be highly effective. However, there is a restrictive approach toward utilizing cryopreserved ovarian tissue in specific groups of cancer patients due to the potential risk of malignancy reintroduction on transplantation. This chapter provides up-to-date knowledge on risk evaluation of cancer cell contamination in ovarian tissue harvested from different malignancies, and presents the current technologies used to detect metastasis and minimal residual disease in ovarian tissue, with the aim of increasing the safety of ovarian tissue cryopreservation-transplantation.