All cancer patients of reproductive age should be provided with fertility information and referrals for fertility preservation.
All cancer patients of reproductive age should be provided with fertility information and referrals for fertility preservation. A new Psycho-Oncology analysis of the published literature indicates that many cancer patients are not receiving such support, however.
In the analysis of 23 relevant studies, investigators found that many clinicians are broadly informed about the risk to their patients’ fertility brought about by cancer treatment, but many factors hinder the appropriate discussions and referrals needed to provide adequate fertility support to patients of reproductive age. For example, some oncology clinicians may lack appropriate fertility knowledge and be unsure whose role it is to provide fertility support.
“Impaired fertility brought about by cancer treatment leads to long-term psychological distress and lowered quality of life for cancer patients of a reproductive age. As such, it is paramount that clinicians are able to deliver oncofertility services to the standard of best practice guidelines, to assist in lowering long term distress,” said Dr. Shanna Logan, lead author of the article. “However, as the results of this review indicate, oftentimes oncofertilty related services are not delivered to the standard required or in line with patient's needs. Moving forward, the results of this review will be utilised to aid in the development of an international competency framework, to better assist clinicians in providing necessary oncofertility care in the future."
Additional Information
Link to Study: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pon.4518/full
About the Journal
Psycho-Oncology is concerned with the psychological, social, behavioral, and ethical aspects of cancer. This subspeciality addresses the two major psychological dimensions of cancer: the psychological responses of patients to cancer at all stages of the disease, and that of their families and caretakers; and the psychological, behavioral and social factors that may influence the disease process. Psycho-oncology is an area of multi-disciplinary interest and has boundaries with the major specialities in oncology: the clinical disciplines (surgery, medicine, pediatrics, radiotherapy), epidemiology, immunology, endocrinology, biology, pathology, bioethics, palliative care, rehabilitation medicine, clinical trials research and decision making, as well as psychiatry and psychology.
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