Half of Young Cancer Patients Report Fertility Preservation Discussion With Provider

TUESDAY, Nov. 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Many young patients with early-onset cancer report having a fertility preservation (FP) discussion with their health care professional prior to treatment, according to a research letter published online Nov. 12 in JAMA Network Open.

Samantha R. Keller, from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues evaluated FP discussion patterns as reported by 473 patients (men, 18 to 49 years; women, 18 to 42 years) with a first primary early-onset cancer (diagnosis between 2013 and 2021) participating in the Reproductive Health After Cancer Diagnosis & Treatment Study.

The researchers found that half of patients (50.7 percent) reported that a health care professional involved in their cancer care discussed FP options before treatment initiation, but there were significant differences in the proportion reporting FP discussions by age, pregnancy history, and marital status. Young patients with thyroid, lung or bronchus, ovarian, and colorectal cancers (3.6, 21.0, 21.4, and 44.2 percent, respectively) reported the lowest prevalence of FP discussions.

“If FP was discussed by the health care professional but the patient did not understand or recall this information, our findings may underreport the true prevalence of patient-recalled FP discussions in the clinical setting,” the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies.

Abstract/Full Text