About 70,000 adolescents and young adults (ages 15-39) are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States. During cancer treatment, adolescents and young adults (AYA) may focus all of their energy on getting through treatment. Some may not have spent much time talking or…
The number of Americans with a history of cancer is growing due to the aging and growth of the population, as well as improving survival rates. In response to this demographic trend, The American Cancer Society (ACS) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) compiled a…
Advances in cancer treatments give young women more hope for survival than ever before, but many treatments can leave women unable to naturally conceive a child. The University of North Carolina (UNC) Fertility Preservation Program, a member of the National Physicians Cooperative, provides options for…
As part of our guest blog series, the Oncofertility Consortium would like to introduce our readers to Shannon Routh, and her organization for young survivors of ovarian and gynecologic cancers, Teal Diva, founded in 2009. Below is a post she wrote about her experience with…
Fertility Preservation (FP) programs are imperative to comprehensive cancer treatment plans, but not all providers are able to offer this level of care to their patients. Often, this is not for lack of want, but rather it results from a scarcity of resources or insufficient…
In 1974 a small group of physicians seeking to dispel the myth that community physicians were uninterested in and incapable of participation in state-of-the-art cancer care came together to form the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC). ACCC was born to give oncology practitioners in…
As you may already know, The Oncofertility Consortium partnered with the Endocrine Society to release the free, iSaveFertility iPhone App nearly a year ago this week. iSaveFertility was developed to give oncologists and fertility specialists a quick reference guide for preserving the fertility of children, women…
Infertility has been associated with psychological distress and can have a negative impact on quality of life in cancer survivors. Reproductive concerns are often sited among young cancer survivors prior to, and following cancer treatment. A number of fertility preservation (FP) options are available to…
A person’s health is influenced by many factors; including, sex, gender, culture, environment, and income. Researchers are discovering the critical roles that sex and gender identity play in health, wellness, and disease progression. The discoveries being made through the study of women’s health and sex…
Infertility is serious and often underestimated side effect of cancer treatment. Ensuring cancer patients are equipped with the necessary health information to protect and preserve their fertility in a time sensitive manner is a critical component to comprehensive cancer care. In a new article in…
This Sunday is Mother’s Day. Many of you may have plans with your family doing your best to ensure that the day is celebrated, and the women in your life who fit this profile, past and present, are honored in some way. It goes without…
Pediatric cancer, a disease once thought to be primarily incurable, now has an 80% cure rate as a result of clinical advances in technology, pharmaceuticals and screening. For many young patients and their families, survival takes precedence over all other issues immediately following a cancer…
Yesterday, April 26th, was Take Your Kids to Work Day and as always, the Woodruff Lab opened its doors to the future generation of white coats! Woodruff Lab members brought their children in to take part in a day of activities to help them learn more…
Fertility preservation services are expanding as advances in cancer treatment are made, allowing people to live longer and fuller lives. As a result, quality-of-life issues including fertility preservation, are a concern for more and more cancer patients within their reproductive years. In a new article…
The Oncofertility Consortium is pleased to announce the launch of the 2012 Oncofertility Conference webpage! For anyone who doesn’t know yet, the 6th annual Oncofertility Conference (#oncofert12 for you Twitter folks!) is being held in Chicago this fall, September 26th-28th. This year will prove to…
As we’ve discussed in previous blogs, certain health care providers have a unique role in communicating fertility preservation information to newly diagnosed cancer patients. For example, often a gynecologist is the primary health care provider for many young women, therefore, based on “regular and consistent”…
At the Oncofertility Consortium, we stress the importance of collaboration among clinicians, basic scientists, and the humanities in an effort to ensure that cancer patients have fertility options after treatment. This is no small feat, but the emerging field of oncofertility is constantly evolving as…
Christi Sodano from the Medill School of Journalism brings us the following insight on the global needs in fertility preservation for young patients. Read her first blog post. _______ By Christi Sodano- No longer just an old person’s disease, cancer among young people is increasingly…
A retrospective study is being published today that gives us a better idea of the barriers to fertility preservation among women with cancer. In the study, about 1,000 women who were diagnosed with cancer between 1993 and 2007, were asked about their counseling on fertility…
As previous studies have shown, women diagnosed with cancer during their reproductive years often do not receive adequate consultation, and sometimes none at all, regarding the fertility risks of cancer or its treatment. Fertility is a unique survivorship issue that young cancer patients face, which…
What does empowerment mean to you? Does it mean giving someone the authority or power to do something… because that’s what you’ll find if you look it up? The word is not a new one – it originated around the 17th century and the meaning…
Students and scientist-organizers of the March 12th Oncofertility 101 course Last week, the Oncofertility Consortium hosted its second Oncofertility 101 course. In this laboratory-based course, organized by Francesca Duncan, PhD, and Jennifer Pahnke, MS, researchers learn the methods to study ovarian follicle growth in an…
Breast cancer is the number one cancer women are diagnosed with; however, the survival rate for young women diagnosed with cancer in its early stages has improved considerably over the last 20 years. Today, many young women diagnosed with breast cancer can expect long-term survival,…
A few students from the Medill School of Journalism have recently been providing us with their thoughts on oncofertility. Zara Huasini gives us her second post here on the intersection of oncofertility and social media. Read her first blog, Increased Awareness Could Save Fertility of…
