Sex differences in fertility information to young cancer patients
A new study from Karolinska Institutet shows, that young women are less likely to get information about the risk of infertility after cancer treatment than young men. While the majority of the men had been informed about options for preserving their fertility, and also had their sperm frozen before cancer treatment, only few of the women had been offered the same information and possibilities to preserve fertility.
Each year about 3,000 women and men under 45 years of age are diagnosed with cancer in Sweden. Many of these patients are treated with cancer therapies that can affect fertility. To preserve fertility it is possible to have the patient's sperm, eggs or in later years also ovarian tissue frozen and banked before cancer treatment.
The current study was published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and is the first of its kind in Sweden. The study sample consisted of 484 cancer survivors diagnosed from 2003 to 2007 and identified in population-based registers. Most of the participants had been treated with chemotherapy drugs.
Publication
Sex differences in fertility-related information received by young adult cancer survivors.
J. Clin. Oncol. 2012 Jun;30(17):2147-53