Many young patients with cancer may not be informed of fertility preservation

Many young cancer patients – especially females – have limited awareness about options to preserve their fertility, according to a study published online July 27 in Cancer.

Several cancers remedies may only effect someoneis fertility short-term, while other solutions – including surgical removal of the uterus, like – may cause.

For the study, researchers surveyed 459 adolescents and young adults who were diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and 2008. “It should be 100 percent across the board [but] I fear that sometimes providers are assuming a patient won’t be able to preserve their fertility, and are just jumping to conclusions and making decisions for the patient”.

Patients whom already had little ones were usually also not going to consider fertility saving in comparison with those that didn’t have young kids, the investigation found.

There are fertility preservation options available for patients. Gonadal shielding – where testicles are protected from radiation exposure – may be an option for men.

The questionnaires also revealed that discussion and action surrounding fertility preservation may be linked with medical factors, patient socioeconomic status, and child-rearing status.

Eighty percent of men were told they might become infertile, 71 percent discussed options to address the problem, and 31 percent made preservation arrangements. But males were more than twice as likely as females to say that they discussed options with their doctor.

The study found that factors like education, gender, and insurance standing could impact whether or not patients and their physicians have discussions and take actions to preserve fertility throughout cancer treatment.

Among the women who explained why they didn’t pursue this option, many cited a lack of awareness or access to affordable options, while 38 percent raised concerns that this might delay treatment.

“Despite these guidelines, referrals are inconsistently made, even at large multidisciplinary institutions, and many reproductive-age patients still initiate treatment without discussion of, or opportunity for, fertility preservation”, note the study authors.

Fertility can be adversely impacted by some solutions regarding clients of reproductive-age. By way of example, embryo cryopreservation – where ova are gathered from your ovaries, fertilized via in vitro fertilization (IVF), iced and kept – may be a choice for females.

It’s not surprising that young cancer patients and their parents may be reluctant to raise questions about fertility, Oktay said by email.

“It’s not surprising, but it is disappointing, that many patients who could benefit from fertility preservation aren’t hearing the message”, she said. “It is one of the most important topics”.