ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology

Introduction: As in previous years, most of the data published this year focuses on the topic of fertility preservation in childhood cancer survivors.

New studies have shown that the reproductive capacity of these patients is now significantly increased compared to what was reported in previous decades. This improvement is clearly related to improved fertility preservation and assisted reproduction techniques. Another relevant factor is the progressive personalization of antineoplastic therapy protocols, based on the characterization of the patient's genetic profile and the gene expression pattern of the neoplasm itself. This has allowed not only greater efficacy and tolerability of antineoplastic therapy protocols, but also a reduction in chronic complications of cancer treatment, particularly gonadotoxicity and damage to other endocrine glands. In this regard, preliminary data are emerging that would correlate specific polymorphisms in genes encoding enzymes that regulate the metabolism of antineoplastic drugs with the magnitude of the risk of endocrine complications, particularly gonadal damage.