MOTHERS IN MEDICINE
FERTILITY PRESERVATION FOR PATIENTS UNDERGOING
GONADOTOXIC THERAPIES
AUTHOR Maggie Dwiggins, MD
Every year, over 200,000 people
younger than 49 are diagnosed with
cancer in the US. 1 Of these, roughly
5% of these new cancer diagnoses
will be in adolescents and young
adults (AYA) age 15-39, and another
1% in children. In this age group,
cancer survival has greatly improved
since the 1970s, and now almost 85% of children to young
adults will survive. Because of this remarkable advancement in
cancer treatment and survival, great strides have been made regarding
the overall quality of life of these survivors. This includes
a pronounced focus on family and preserving fertility long-term.
In fact, both cancer survivors and the medical community have
acknowledged the importance of careful counseling at the time of
diagnosis and pursuit of fertility preservation, if desired.
Infertility has a significant impact on overall quality of life. In
fact, 40% of women will be diagnosed with clinical depression.
And when assessing the impact of the diagnosis on quality of life,
the infertile patient will have scores indistinguishable to those diagnosed
with new cancer or AIDS. 2 In cancer survivors, the trauma
of overcoming one disease and then facing another life-changing
diagnosis can be devastating. This is why raising awareness of
fertility preservation and providing counseling is so important in
those young patients who are surviving at high rates into adulthood.
Initially coined oncofertility, fertility preservation strives to offer
safe and effective methods of allowing individuals the chance
to have biologic children despite undergoing treatment that causes
gonadal failure, or gonadotoxicity. These treatments are especially
associated with cancer therapy, however many other conditions,
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