Category: News

A recent article, “Acute Ovarian Failure Underestimages Age-Specific Reproductive Impairment for Young Women Undergoing Chemotherapy for Cancer,” examined the reproductive impairment rates of young cancer survivors, using participants in the California Cancer Registry who had Hodgkin disease, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, gastrointestinal malignancies, and breast cancer. The…

Jennifer Hirshfeld-Cytron, PhD, Clarisa Gracia, PhD and Teresa K. Woodruff, PhD authored a new article in the Journal of Women’s Health. The Oncofertility Consortium members review several fertility-threatening conditions and treatments and discuss the current established and experimental fertility preservation techniques available.  They argue that awareness,…

Although educational materials provide a potentially effective method to convey critical information, the distribution of educational materials about fertility preservation is undocumented. Oncofertility researchers sought to determine the prevalence of providers’ distribution of fertility preservation materials to patients and to assess physician and practice characteristics…

Karrie Ann Snyder and William Pearse discuss the information gap that still persists between patients and their health care teams in regard to fertility preservation. They argue that strategies need to be developed that will facilitate the integration of best-practice guidelines into clinical care and…

New cryopreservation research published in Human Reproduction indicates advantages in vitrification over slow-freezing on the later ability of ovarian follicles to grow in vitro. The paper, by oncofertility researchers, Alison Ting, Richard Yeoman, Maralee Lawson, and Mary Zelinski at Oregon National Primate Research Center is…

At Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, researchers are testing a compound called sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), a naturally occurring molecule which has been shown to prevent germ cell death in mice receiving radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Oncofertility Consortium member, Mary Zelinksi, discusses this experimental treatment…

In 2010, members of the oncofertility community joined together discuss the past, present, and future of ovarian tissue research. This meeting resulted in the publication, “Current achievements and future research directions in ovarian tissue culture, in vitro follicle development and transplantation: implications for fertility preservation,”…

On June 23rd, Matt Zachary (I’m Too Young for This), Jonny Imerman (Imerman Angels), and Kathleen Boss (Gilda’s Club) led a discussion entitled, “Survivorship, Advocacy, and Identity in the Cancer Community.” Click below to watch this informative discussion from some of the leaders in the…

Watch the press release from the Endo 2011 Conference with Teresa K. Woodruff revealing the Oncofertility Consortium’s new iPhone App, iSaveFertility. iSave fertility is a free mobile resource for health care providers and their patients to help navigate fertility preservation.

As a patient navigator at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Kristin Smith guides newly diagnosed cancer patients through a hopeful process – preserving their future ability to have children in the face of life-saving, fertility-threatening treatments. Science in Society spoke…

“While the science of fertility preservation for adolescents with cancer is advancing, the social science research in this area is lacking. Specifically, there are only a small number of studies about the psychological reproductive concerns in the pediatric oncology population. These studies have provided groundbreaking…

A recent supplement of the magazine, Cancer, focuses on the specific needs of young cancer patients in Canada. The articles discuss how to increase outcomes in patients between 18 and 39 who are dealing with cancer. One article, by Hamish B. Wallace MD, FRCP titled…

On May 16th, Richard Anderson, MD, PhD led a discussion entitled, “Female Fertility Preservation in Practice: Where We Are, and How We Got Here.” Click below to watch his fascinating presentation.

Dr Quinn, from the Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute and the University of South Florida, in Tampa, USA, has conducted surveys of oncologists’ referral practices. The interview covers issues such as: How communication between patients and physicians is improving. Why limited access to reproductive…

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University’s Oregon National Primate Research Center may have good news for women at high-risk for ovarian cancer who also want to have children. The research suggests that a layer of cells, which serve as the “breeding ground” for ovarian…

At 29, Chicago native Tiffany Majors was diagnosed with breast cancer and with that diagnosis, she learned that the treatment which could potentially save her life, could also leave her infertile. Knowing that starting a family was an important goal to her and her husband,…

The Oncofertility Summer Research Fellowship 2011 (OSRF11) is a paid ten day professional development opportunity for high school biology teachers. Oncofertility is a new discipline that bridges oncology and reproductive medicine in order to discover and apply new fertility preservation options for young patients with…

Many young women with early breast cancer consider fertility to be a priority; however, most women do not receive information regarding fertility preservation prior to cancer treatment. In this study, knowledge about fertility and decisional conflict were measured in young patients with breast cancer considering…

In a new article in the Chronicle of Higher Education entitled, “As Budgets Tighten, Big Science Gets a New Opportunity to Make It’s Case,” the Oncofertility Consortium is recognized for it’s interdisciplinary approach to basic science, otherwise known as “team science”. As congress threatens to…

Members of the Oncofertility Consortium recently published an article in the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JOVE), to disseminate some of the techniques prioneered by the group. The video article both describes and shows how authors Ariella Shikanov, Min Xu, Teresa Woodruff, and Lonnie Shea encapsulate…

http://www.calchannel.com/channel/viewvideo/2117     On February 14, 2011, California state assembly member Anthony Portantino introduced legislation, AD 428, which would mandate that health insurance plans cover the cost of fertility preservation. The legislation would cover patients in California suffering from conditions whose treatment plans, such as…