Understanding and preventing the off-target impacts of cancer treatments on female fertility

Over the past few decades, advances in cancer detection and treatment have dramatically improved survival rates in young women. Therefore, ensuring that patients have a high quality-of-life after cancer treatment has become a new priority. This includes understanding and preventing any long-term negative side effects of cancer treatments, with infertility and early-onset menopause being major concerns for women receiving chemotherapy. In this thesis, a new fertility preservation drug has been demonstrated to protect eggs in the ovary from chemotherapy-induced damage. Additionally, the side-effects on fertility of the new class of cancer therapy – immunotherapy – have been revealed for the first time.