Background and objectives: Breast cancer treatment can cause premature ovarian failure, yet the majority of young cancer patients do not receive adequate education about treatment effects before initiating chemotherapy. We studied the impact of an oncofertility program on access to fertility preservation.
Methods: An oncofertility program was initiated to foster collaboration between oncologists and reproductive endocrinologists, and to help increase access to fertility preservation. Documented conversations about fertility concerns, specialist referrals, appointments, and fertility preservation procedures were compared between breast cancer patients from 2004 to 2006, before oncofertility program initiation, and 2007-2012, after program initiation. The study included women <45, stages 0-III, diagnosed before (n = 278) and after (n = 515) program initiation.
Results: Demographics for the cohorts were similar. Fertility discussions (P < 0.0001), patients interested in maintaining fertility at diagnosis (P = 0.0041), referrals to reproductive endocrinologists (P < 0.0001), appointments (P < 0.0001), and fertility preservation procedures (P < 0.0183) increased significantly after programmatic implementation.
Conclusions: An oncofertility program increased discussions about fertility preservation and access to assisted reproductive procedures. This program positively impacted compliance with national guidelines advising reproductive-age cancer patients to be offered fertility preservation counseling as an initial component of the multidisciplinary care plan. J. Surg. Oncol. 2017;115:116-121. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Keywords: breast cancer; fertility preservation; oncofertility; reproductive endocrinology.
© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.