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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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Night of Humor & Healing

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, General
On April 9, 2014, the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center will host a “Night of Humor & Healing” for young adult cancer survivors ages 16-40 years old at the famed Second City Theater.  The evening will include dinner, drinks, networking, and a one-hour hilarious…
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Evidence-Based Medicine in Oncofertility

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Communication, Education, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility, Research, Virtual Grand Rounds
Tags: clinical research, education, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility, Research
Educating Providers on Evidence-Based Medical Guidelines is a chapter of Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Relationships across Disciplines where the authors, Lauren N.C. Johnson and Dr. Clarisa R. Gracia, outline previous medical paradigms and how they have changed to incorporate new evidence-based medical guidelines in…
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Preserving Oocyte Reserve

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, Education, Fertility Preservation, General, Oncofertility, Research, science
Tags: Fertility Preservation, publication, Research
Today we welcome Dr. So-Youn Kim from Dr. Woodruff’s Lab at Northwestern University as our guest blogger.  Dr. Kim will review a recent article published by Dr. John C. Schimenti in Science 2014. ONE MORE STEP TOWARDS PRESERVING OOCYTE RESERVE By: So-Youn Kim, PhD According…
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Communication: From Professionals to the Public

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, General
We live in a digital age where more information is available at our fingertips than ever before.  We now have access to information in a matter of seconds that used to take weeks to locate through time intensive literature reviews at the library.  Chapter 12…
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What is Shared Decision Making?

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, General
Oncofertility Communication: Sharing Information and Building Bridges across Disciplines is divided into two parts.  Part I is Communicating with Patients and Their Families and outlined in Chapters 1-10.  Part II, Communicating with Healthcare Professionals, Stakeholders and the Public starts with Chapter 11, An Interprofessional Approach…
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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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Tomorrow is International Childhood Cancer Day

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, General
Tomorrow, February 15, 2014, is International Childhood Cancer Day.  A day devoted to the strength, courage and resiliency of children with cancer and their families.  The International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP) and the International Confederation of Childhood Cancer Parent Organizations (ICCCOI) represent pediatric oncologists…
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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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Global Partner: Portuguese Centre for Fertility Preservation

Author image - Brigid Martz Smith By: Brigid Martz Smith -
Categories: Blog, fertility, Fertility Preservation, General, Global Partner, In the news, Introductions, Oncofertility
Tags: education, fertility, Fertility Preservation, Oncofertility
The Oncofertility Consortium is happy to welcome the Portuguese Center for Fertility Preservation as a Global Partner.  We currently work with reproductive specialists from all over the world in an effort to better serve children, adolescents and young adults with cancer and other fertility-threatening diseases.  Learn more about…
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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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