Preserving fertility during cancer treatments

Cancer treatment — and cancer itself — can threaten fertility. This is a tremendously important survivorship issue for many people. As an oncologist, I’m often asked questions about preserving fertility during cancer treatment. If this issue affects you, here is an overview of key options. When should you talk to your cancer team about fertility? Future children may not be foremost on your mind when you are diagnosed with cancer. Soon afterward, though, it’s worth talking to your doctor about fertility issues, if this is important to you now or might one day become important. Your doctor can explain: the risk that your cancer might cause infertility the risk that your treatment might cause infertility options before or during treatment that might help you preserve fertility. What might make infertility more likely to occur? When an adult has cancer, some factors that raise risk for infertility include: Age. Infertility is more likely in women who are older at diagnosis. Type of cancer. Some cancers affect fertility, such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma, or prostate cancer in men. Treatments. Some treatments affect fertility by damaging or removing reproductive organs. For example, treating cervical, uterine, or ovarian cancer usually requires removing a woman’s ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uterus. Radiation to the pelvis used to treat colon or uterine cancer can permanently harm ovaries. And some, but not all, chemotherapies needed to effectively treat different canc...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Cancer Fertility Infertility Source Type: blogs