More than two years ago, Kara DeFrias began a blog about her journey to conceive a child. Over two years, this journey was unsuccessful. In the attempt to determine the cause of her infertility, doctors discovered that Kara had uterine cancer in February of 2010, at age 34. The cancer was still relatively early so while Kara had to undergo a surgery to remove her uterus and ovaries, Kara did not need chemotherapy or radiation. Prior to the surgery, Kara began working with Oncofertility Consortium members at the University of California, San Diego to undergo embryo banking. When Kara's uterus and ovaries were removed, Kara donated some of her ovarian tissue to support the research at the Oncofertility consortium. Since her uterus was removed, Kara and her husband have begun to look into getting a surrogate for their child and it is looking promising. Kara’s chronicles are an inspiration to other fertility preservation patients. Read them here.
Radiation therapy is a tried-and-true method for treating cancers. However, this treatment also causes tissue damage and DNA mutations to the patient. Damage to the sexual organs or DNA mutations within male sperm or female eggs may cause pregnancies to result in miscarriages, stillbirths, or...
In 2007, the first book about Oncofertility discussed many of the scientific and medical advances available to cancer patients wishing to preserve their fertility. Collaborators at the Oncofertility Consortium now examine the humanities and social science aspects of the field in the book ...
I read an article last week and just can’t stop thinking about it. The article, posted in the New England Journal of Medicine, is a case study of a patient at Massachusetts General Hospital. Briefly, the case study tells the story of a woman who suffered a blood clot that traveled to the lungs and...
Patients with cancer and those in need in of stem cell treatments often risk losing their fertility in exchange for a clean bill of health. Fertility preservation options give these patients the ability to have children. Additional patients, such as those with autoimmune diseases, can also benefit...
This past Monday, Sarah Halberstadt, the National Program Manager for the group Bright Pink came to visit us at the Oncofertility Consortium. Bright Pink is a not-for-profit organization that educates and supports young women who are at high-risk for breast and ovarian cancer. The members of Bright...
The links between breast cancer and genetics are well established. However, it is not know exactly what makes some women more likely than others to lose their fertility after cancer treatment. We recently wrote a blog post on the correlation between amenorrhea, the absence of a menstrual period,...
Receiving a cancer diagnosis is traumatizing. Your doctor runs some tests, possibly sends you to a specialist, and then tells you the bad news. Within a few days, you must process this life-changing information, decide on and receive fertility preservation, and start cancer therapy. But what...
The mission of the Oncofertility Consortium is to advance and promote fertility preservation options for cancer patients. However, treatments for diseases besides cancer can also cause infertility. In particular, patients who undergo stem cell transplants can lose reproductive abilities from their...
The Oncofertility Consortium advances the reproductive future of cancer patients by maintaining their fertility. However, cancer patients and survivors can also suffer from sexual health problems independent from fertility.
Receiving a cancer diagnosis can significantly affect feelings of...
Over the past decades, advances in fertility, such as in vitro fertilization, also increased reproductive options for female cancer patients. Prior tobeginning chemotherapy and radiation, patients can now freeze down their eggs or embryos to be used after beating the cancer. Unfortunately, these...
In 1990, Mary-Claire King, PhD made a groundbreaking discovery: she identified a gene that was similar in people with inherited forms of breast cancer. She identified this gene by examining families with rare forms of breast cancer, such as those occurring early in life, in both breasts, or among...
A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine shed some light on the link between chemotherapy and loss of ovarian function. The treatment of cancers, while lifesaving, can cause infertility in both men and women. Cancer therapy reduces fertility by affecting the ovaries. Chemotherapy and...
We posted last week on the Cancer Rights Conference in Chicago, Illinois hosted by the Disability Legal Resource Center. The health care reform bill was one of the most discussed topics at the conference. Formally called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the bill instates changes in...
The contents of the Oncofertility Consortium Blog are for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
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