Normal tissue tolerance to external beam radiation therapy: Ovaries

Clinical situations requiring protections of ovaries are mainly paediatric irradiations and pre-menopausal pelvic irradiations. The main complication of ovarian irradiation is the induced castration. Ovaries are extremely radiosensitive organs with strong interpersonal variations. The castrative effect of irradiation depends mainly on two factors: patient's age and the dose delivered to ovaries. The surgical technique of ovarian transposition allows to minimize the dose received by ovaries by taking them away, out of irradiation fields; the aim is to exclude them from the volume receiving 5 Gy or more, and if possible from those receiving 2 Gy. This technique becomes integrated into a multidisciplinary approach of conservation of fertility for patients exposed to other cytotoxic treatments. (authors)