Thanks to constantly evolving therapies, many women can now call themselves “former” cancer patients. However, for some of the tens of thousands of young women who fight and beat cancer each year, the same aggressive treatments that saved their lives also result in the loss of their ability to have children. For years, cancer treatment-related infertility was an unfortunate and unpreventable consequence of the disease. Today, as a result of research conducted at Oregon Health & Science University, Massachusetts General Hospital and Battelle, many women may be able to beat cancer and still maintain fertility.

The research is published in the current online edition of the journal Fertility & Sterility and will appear in a future printed edition. Jonathan L. Tilly, Ph.D., director of the Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital led the overall research project.

The complete OHSU media release is available online.