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Category: Cancer

Oncofertility Decision Tools

By: Allison Goetsch -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, Communication, Education, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility
Tags: decision tool, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility, publication, web portal
The Oncofertility Consortium has created a Decision Tool Web Portal for health care providers who care for patients diagnosed with malignant and non-malignant conditions which may impair fertility (or treatment may impair fertility). Decision Tools are designed to enable oncofertility stakeholders to take action. They provide information…
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Stupid Cancer Chicago Meet-up: June 25th

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Advocate, Blog, Cancer, General, Patient Stories
Tags: Advocate, AYA, cancer, Personal stories
UPDATE: NEW VENUE INFORMATION BELOW! The Oncofertility Consortium is pleased to spread the word about an upcoming Stupid Cancer Meet-up with founder and CEO (and a wonderful friend of the Oncofertility Consortium), Matthew Zachary.  Mark your calendars for Wednesday, June 25th – read more below! Wednesday…
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We need your votes!

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, Communication, Education, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility Saturday Academy, Patient Stories, science
Tags: cancer, education, Fertility Preservation, Northwestern University, Oncofertility, Oncofertility Saturday Academy
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is hosting  a contest for songs and videos demonstrating the cutting edge science funded by the office of the director.  The Oncofertility Consortium has two videos in the running and we’d love your support!   To vote for our…
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Insurance Coverage for Fertility Preservation

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Advocate, Blog, Cancer, Communication, fertility, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility
Tags: Advocate, cancer, Fertility Preservation, insurance, Oncofertility, publication
Chapter 14 of Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships across Disciplines addresses an extremely important issue in healthcare, insurance coverage.  The authors, Dr. Laxmi Kondapalli and Alice Crisci, wrote Incorporating Insurance Education into the Fertility Preservation Process to outline strategies that may facilitate access…
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AYA Twitter Chat TODAY 12:30pm CST (#YACancer)

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Advocate, Blog, Cancer, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility, Patient Stories
Tags: Advocate, AYA, cancer, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility, Personal stories, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
Recently, Mashable featured Jenna Benn in a wonderful article: Wedding, Career, Chemo: When Cancer Derails the Millennial Dream.  Jenna Benn is a patient of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at and a wonderful friend and supporter of the Oncofertility Consortium. Due to the…
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The Rest is History

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, children, fertility, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility, Patient Stories
Tags: cancer, fertility, Fertility Preservation, infertility, Oncofertility, patient navigation, Personal stories
Today, we are honored to have another patient guest blogger; long-term survivor Colleen Cira.  Read through her incredible story below and join the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center this evening, March 25, from 5-8pm for “Drinks with Docs (& Healthcare Providers)” at Bridge House…
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Perspectives on Fertility

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, children, Communication, Education, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility
Tags: cancer, education, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility, publication
Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships across Disciplines devoted an entire chapter to the communication strategies and issues faced by oncology providers.  Chapter 10 is entitled Fertility Communication to Cancer Patients: A Hematologist-Oncologist’s Perspective and is authored by Sara Barnato Giordano.  As cancer treatments…
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Virtual Grand Rounds on February 13, 2014

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, CME, Education, General, Virtual Grand Rounds
Tags: cancer, education, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility, Sperm Banking
JOIN US!  This Thursday, February 13th at 10am Central Time, the Oncofertility Consortium is proud to host our next Virtual Grand Rounds.  This presentation will be given by Dr. Robert E. Branningan and focus on Fertility Preservation in the Male: Optimizing the Delivery of Care.  Dr.
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Communication Disparities

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, children, Education, ethics, fertility, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility
Tags: cancer, ethics, Fertility Preservation, patient navigation
The next chapter in Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships across Disciplines addresses Disparities in Adolescent Patient-Provider Communication Regarding Fertility.  The authors, Amanda B. Fuchs and Dr. Robert E. Brannigan, provide detailed information regarding the disparities between providers and their adolescent patients even though…
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2014 World Cancer Day

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Advocate, Blog, Cancer, Education, Fertility Preservation, General, In the news, Research, science
Tags: Advocate, cancer, education, ethics, Fertility Preservation, quality of life
If you’re not already aware, today is World Cancer Day.  World Cancer Day was founded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to support the goals of the World Cancer Declaration which calls upon government leaders and health policy-makers to significantly reduce the global…
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Communicating Oncofertility to Children

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, children, Education, General, Research
Tags: cancer, education, Northwestern University, publication, Research
We’re jumping back into the chapter reviews of Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships across Disciplines.  Today, we’re reviewing Chapter 8, Communicating Oncofertility to Children: A Developmental Perspective for Teaching Health Messages by Dr. Ellen Wartella, Dr. Alexis Lauricella and Lisa Hurwitz.  Communicating health…
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Focus on Family

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, General
Tags: cancer, Personal stories
Below is a guest post from Luke Tripodi on the importance of family during his cancer journey.  We thank him for taking the time to guest post and wish him continued health! By Luke Tripodi My story starts off the same way so many others’…
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Saving Fertility Not Priority at Most Cancer Centers

By: Oncofertility Admin -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, fertility, General, Research
Tags: publication, Research, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
Lack of policies to protect cancer patients’ fertility at top cancer centers Infertility is consistently listed as one of the most distressing long-term side effects of cancer treatment for adolescents and young adults. Yet the leading National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers — which should…
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Learning to Bridge the Information Gap

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, fertility, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility
Tags: BRCA, breast cancer, cancer, education, fertility, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility, teresa k woodruff
Information gaps are widely apparent in patient-physician relationships due to a multitude of factors.  Some patients are not interested or emotionally able to process information provided by the physician while certain physicians may not be comfortable discussing various options with their patients or feel that…
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Communicating Fertility to High-Risk Patients

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, fertility, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility, Research
Tags: BRCA, breast cancer, cancer, Egg Banking, Embryo Banking, fertility, Fertility Preservation
Women who have a high risk of breast or ovarian cancer face a number of looming decisions; from whether or not to undergo prophylactic surgery, to electing increased surveillance, to taking risk-lowering medication.  Interwoven with these decisions is the implication each will have on fertility.…
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Sexual Health, Fertility, and Intimacy in Adolescent Cancer Patients

By: Oncofertility Admin -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, fertility, Research
Tags: cancer, social science
Adolescent and young adult cancer patients face unique social, physical, and emotional experiences during diagnosis and treatment that may not occur in younger or older individuals. A recent chapter in the book, Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships across Disciplines, highlights some of these…
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Oncofertility: Education and the Role of Decision-Making Tools

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Advocate, Blog, Cancer, Education, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility, Research, science
Tags: cancer, education, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility, patient navigation
Education materials, whether in print or web-based, have a large role in helping patients feel confident in their medical decision-making.  Continuing with our overview of Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships across Disciplines, Chapter 3 focuses on the importance of education, and the role of decision-making…
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Communicating Across Diverse and Differently Literate Audiences

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Advocate, Blog, Cancer, Education, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility
Tags: Advocate, cancer, education, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility, publication
We can all remember a time when we have received medical information from our doctor and have walked away with little or no comprehension of what was discussed.  The second chapter in Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships Across Disciplines is entitled Communicating Across…
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The Stupid Cancer Show: Perspectives on Life after Cancer

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Advocate, Blog, Cancer, Education, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility
Tags: Advocate, cancer, fertility, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility, ovarian tissue cryopreservation, Personal stories, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Stupid Cancer
Here at the Oncofertility Consortium, we’re huge fans – both personally and professionally – of Matthew Zachary, the force behind Stupid Cancer; the nation’s largest support community of young adult survivors of cancer.  Created in 2004 (first as Steps for Living, then transitioning into I’m Too…
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Research Update: New Insights into use of Ovarian Tissue After Cryopreservation

By: Oncofertility Admin -
Categories: Blog, Cancer, fertility, Fertility Preservation, Research, science
Tags: ovarian tissue cryopreservation, Research
Two ovarian follicles at different stages of maturation (primary on the left, secondary on the right). Women with ovarian lesions, such as benign or malignant tumors, or those at high risk for breast or ovarian cancer now have additional evidence that can help them decide…
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Support The Family Act of 2013!

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Advocate, Blog, Cancer, fertility, Fertility Preservation
Tags: Advocate, Fertility Preservation, infertility, insurance
Imagine that you are diagnosed with cancer at 24.  On top of processing the enormity of your diagnosis at such a young age, you’re shuttled from one appointment to the next, coordinating your treatment plan in the quickest timeframe possible.  Today, treatment discussions are more…
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