How did a 27-year-old woman with breast cancer survive? This technology lights up the light of life

The fertility protection MDT team of Hunan Provincial People's Hospital worked together to successfully complete the first breast cancer ovarian tissue cryopreservation fertility protection technology. On January 23, 2025, Xiaomei recovered well and was discharged smoothly. Her parents said in tears: Laparoscopic minimally invasive surgery recovery is really fast! Thank you for your careful care of the medical staff!

(The gynecology team of Hunan Provincial People's Hospital successfully completed the first breast cancer ovarian tissue sampling, transportation and cryopreservation)

In January 2025, Xiaomei, a 27-year-old living in Changsha, Hunan, was unfortunately diagnosed with breast cancer. She then underwent radical mastectomy at the Hunan Provincial People's Hospital and received routine radiotherapy, chemotherapy and endocrine therapy after the operation. These treatments will cause irreversible damage to her ovarian function and fertility. This undoubtedly caused Xiaomei both psychological and physiological pressure, and she was once in a fertility "desperate situation."

So what should Xiaomei, who is young and wants to have children, do? After much inquiry, she found out that the gynecology department of Hunan Provincial People's Hospital was carrying out a "fertility preservation" project, so Xiaomei decided to consult the gynecology department.

In this regard, the team led by Huang Wei, director of the Department of Gynecology at Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, attached great importance to it. After learning about Xiaomei's condition in detail, they immediately conducted a multidisciplinary consultation for her with the Department of Breast Surgery, Department of Oncology, Department of Radiology, and Department of Nuclear Medicine. Based on the "Chinese Young Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Expert Consensus" and the needs of patients and their families, the expert team unanimously agreed that ovarian tissue cryopreservation is the best choice to protect the fertility of young women, and jointly developed a thorough surgical plan and emergency plan to ensure perioperative safety.

At 9 a.m. on January 21, the surgical team led by Huang Wei, director of the Department of Gynecology, and Chen Ling, deputy chief physician , relied on superb single-port minimally invasive technology and close multidisciplinary cooperation to perform single-port laparoscopic unilateral oophorectomy and umbilical plastic surgery on Xiaomei under general anesthesia in just 45 minutes.

During the operation, ultra-minimally invasive technology was used to perform protective resection of one ovary, which was immediately placed in a professional transport box prepared in advance. The transport team then efficiently and safely transported it to the Ovarian Tissue Cryopreservation Center of Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital at 8 o'clock that evening.

(During the operation, the removed right ovarian tissue was placed in cryopreservation solution)

The operation went very smoothly, with almost no bleeding, which ensured the activity and function of the ovaries to the greatest extent. The incision was made at the navel to minimize trauma and ensure beauty, which was equivalent to a scarless operation. This was not only a complex and precise surgical operation, but also a warm practice of racing against time and talking with fate.

The ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation technology involves taking part of the ovarian tissue and freezing it before the patient undergoes radiotherapy or chemotherapy. This is equivalent to freezing and preserving a reserve of thousands of eggs for the patient. After the radiotherapy or chemotherapy is completed, the frozen ovarian tissue is transplanted back into the patient's body, thereby restoring ovarian function and fertility.

Huang Wei, director of the Department of Gynecology at Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, introduced: With the postponement of childbearing age, environmental pollution, work pressure, and various gynecological diseases and malignant tumors at a younger age, decreased fertility has become a global health problem. It is crucial for female patients to preserve ovarian tissue, embryos or eggs before chemotherapy and radiotherapy to preserve fertility!

The 2020 global cancer statistics show that breast cancer has become the most common malignant tumor in young women. In my country, about 7% of new breast cancer patients are diagnosed under the age of 40 each year, showing a trend of younger age. With the improvement of clinical diagnosis and treatment technology, about 80% of breast cancer patients can achieve long-term survival.

Huang Wei, director of the Department of Gynecology at Hunan Provincial People's Hospital , reminded that although breast cancer is highly prevalent, its overall prognosis in the early stages is good and can be cured. For young patients who wish to have children after breast cancer treatment, it is recommended that clinicians initiate multidisciplinary team collaboration treatment, conduct a comprehensive assessment based on the patient's age, ovarian reserve function, fertility desire, tumor stage, biological characteristics, and treatment measures, and formulate a reasonable fertility preservation plan based on the principle of tumor treatment priority and patient informed consent, implement individualized management throughout the process, and sow the seeds of hope for more breast cancer patients to have children!

Hunan Medical Chat Special Author: Yuan Ting, Department of Gynecology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital

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(Edited by YT)