AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer Examines Lack Of Physician Warning About Fertility Ramifications Of Cancer Treatments

Main Category: Fertility
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 12 May 2006 - 12:00 PDT

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The AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Tuesday examined how physicians "too seldom" advise young men and women diagnosed with cancer that treatments they might receive could affect their fertility. Some forms of chemotherapy, radiation and surgeries can render cancer patients infertile, according to the AP/Post-Intelligencer. Some surveys indicate that only about half of oncologists properly discuss fertility ramifications of cancer treatments with patients, perhaps because of a focus on patients' mortality and the high costs and specialization of some fertility preservation methods, the AP/Post-Intelligencer reports. "There are options that offer the chance of future children, if patients act in time," according to the AP/Post-Intelligencer. The American Society for Clinical Oncology says that freezing sperm, eggs or embryos, having surgery to move the ovaries from the path of the radiation and having a cervical cancer surgery that does not remove the uterus are the most effective methods for preserving fertility. According to the AP/Post-Intelligencer, about 55,000 people in the U.S. under age 35 are diagnosed with cancer annually, and about 10% of the 10 million cancer survivors in the U.S. were diagnosed with the disease during their reproductive years (Neergaard, AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 5/9).

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