Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-669899f699-tzmfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-29T01:33:01.376Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 4 - The Need for Fertility Preservation in Cancer Patients

from Section 1 - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2021

By
Richard A Anderson  and
Rod T Mitchell
Edited by
Jacques Donnez  and
S. Samuel Kim
Jacques Donnez
Affiliation:
Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels
S. Samuel Kim
Affiliation:
University of Kansas School of Medicine
Get access

Summary

The rapid expansion in reproductive medicine services in recent decades, with notable technological advances in oocyte cryopreservation [1] and artificial reproductive techniques using mature gametes [2], has aligned with developments in oncology to support a rapid expansion in the provision of fertility preservation for cancer patients. Ongoing developments in oncology continue to improve statistics for long-term survival and cure, particularly in the pediatric oncology environment where the great majority of children with cancer can now expect to become long-term survivors [3]. It is, however, unfortunately the case that many such long-term survivors will have one or more significant health issues related to their disease and its treatment [4], and this includes the impairment to their fertility [5]. At the time of diagnosis, loss of fertility is regarded by patients as a keen concern [6].

Type
Chapter
Information
Fertility Preservation
Principles and Practice
 , pp. 25 - 34
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Argyle, CE, Harper, JC, Davies, MC. Oocyte cryopreservation: where are we now? Hum Reprod Update, 2016;22:440–449.Google Scholar
Devroey, P, Van Steirteghem, A. A review of ten years experience of ICSI. Hum Reprod Update, 2004;10:19–28.Google Scholar
Ward, E, DeSantis, C, Robbins, A, Kohler, B, Jemal, A. Childhood and adolescent cancer statistics. CA Cancer J Clin, 2014;64:83–103.Google Scholar
Oeffinger, KC, Mertens, AC, Sklar, CA et al. Chronic health conditions in adult survivors of childhood cancer. N Engl J Med, 2006;355:1572–1582.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Dorp, W, Haupt, R, Anderson, RA et al. Reproductive function and outcomes in female survivors of childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer: a review. J Clin Oncol, 2018:JCO2017763441.Google Scholar
Peate, M, Meiser, B, Hickey, M, Friedlander, M. The fertility-related concerns, needs and preferences of younger women with breast cancer: a systematic review. Breast Cancer Res Treat, 2009;116:215–223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shandley, LM, Spencer, JB, Fothergill, A et al. Impact of tamoxifen therapy on fertility in breast cancer survivors. Fertil Steril, 2017;107:243–252 e245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambertini, M, Kroman, N, Ameye, L et al. Long-term safety of pregnancy following breast cancer according to estrogen receptor status. J Natl Cancer Inst, 2018;110:426–429.Google Scholar
Frobisher, C, Lancashire, ER, Winter, DL, Jenkinson, HC, Hawkins, MM. Long-term population-based marriage rates among adult survivors of childhood cancer in Britain. Int J Cancer, 2007;121:846–855.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koch, SV, Kejs, AM, Engholm, G et al. Marriage and divorce among childhood cancer survivors. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol, 2011;33:500–505.Google Scholar
Ganz, PA, Rowland, JH, Desmond, K, Meyerowitz, BE, Wyatt, GE. Life after breast cancer: understanding women’s health-related quality of life and sexual functioning. J Clin Oncol, 1998;16:501–514.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howard-Anderson, J, Ganz, PA, Bower, JE, Stanton, AL. Quality of life, fertility concerns, and behavioral health outcomes in younger breast cancer survivors: a systematic review. J Natl Cancer Inst, 2012;104:386–405.Google Scholar
Himelstein-Braw, R, Peters, H, Faber, M. Influence of irradiation and chemotherapy on the ovaries of children with abdominal tumours. Br J Cancer, 1977;36:269–275.Google Scholar
Chapman, RM, Sutcliffe, SB, Malpas, JS. Cytotoxic-induced ovarian failure in women with Hodgkin’s disease. I. Hormone function. JAMA, 1979;242:1877–1881.Google Scholar
Morgan, S, Anderson, RA, Gourley, C, Wallace, WH, Spears, N. How do chemotherapeutic agents damage the ovary? Hum Reprod Update, 2012;18:525–535.Google Scholar
Kalich-Philosoph, L, Roness, H, Carmely, A et al. Cyclophosphamide triggers follicle activation and “burnout”; AS101 prevents follicle loss and preserves fertility. Sci Transl Med, 2013;5:185ra162.Google Scholar
Meirow, D, Dor, J, Kaufman, B et al. Cortical fibrosis and blood-vessels damage in human ovaries exposed to chemotherapy. Potential mechanisms of ovarian injury. Hum Reprod, 2007;22:1626–1633.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oktem, O, Oktay, K. Quantitative assessment of the impact of chemotherapy on ovarian follicle reserve and stromal function. Cancer, 2007;110:2222–2229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roti Roti, EC, Leisman, SK, Abbott, DH, Salih, SM. Acute doxorubicin insult in the mouse ovary is cell- and follicle-type dependent. PLoS One, 2012;7:e42293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, RA, Remedios, R, Kirkwood, AA et al. Chemotherapy regimen, age and pretreatment ovarian reserve as determinants of ovarian function after response-adapted therapy in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma: a prospective cohort study. Lancet Oncol, 2018 October;19(10):1328–1337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meistrich, ML. Male gonadal toxicity. Pediatr Blood Cancer, 2009;53:261–266.Google Scholar
van Alphen, MM, van de Kant, HJ, de Rooij, DG. Repopulation of the seminiferous epithelium of the rhesus monkey after X irradiation. Radiat Res, 1988;113:487–500.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Poganitsch-Korhonen, M, Masliukaite, I, Nurmio, M et al. Decreased spermatogonial quantity in prepubertal boys with leukaemia treated with alkylating agents. Leukemia, 2017;31:1460–1463.Google Scholar
Stukenborg, JB, Alves-Lopes, JP, Kurek, M et al. Spermatogonial quantity in human prepubertal testicular tissue collected for fertility preservation prior to potentially sterilizing therapy. Hum Reprod, 2018;33:1677–1683.Google Scholar
Green, DM, Liu, W, Kutteh, WH et al. Cumulative alkylating agent exposure and semen parameters in adult survivors of childhood cancer: a report from the St Jude Lifetime Cohort Study. Lancet Oncol, 2014;15:1215–1223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loren, AW, Mangu, PB, Beck, LN et al. Fertility preservation for patients with cancer: American Society of Clinical Oncology clinical practice guideline update. J Clin Oncol, 2013;31:2500–2510.Google Scholar
Mitchell, RT, Stukenborg, JB, Jahnukainen, K. Male hypogonadism due to cancer treatment. In Winters, SJ, Huhtaniemi, IT (eds.) Male Hypogonadism: Basic, Clinical, and Therapeutic Principles. Springer: Humana Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Marmor, D, Grob-Menendez, F, Duyck, F, Delafontaine, D. Very late return of spermatogenesis after chlorambucil therapy: case reports. Fertil Steril, 1992;58:845–846.Google Scholar
Imai, A, Ichigo, S, Matsunami, K, Takagi, H, Kawabata, I. Ovarian function following targeted anti-angiogenic therapy with bevacizumab. Mol Clin Oncol, 2017;6:807–810.Google Scholar
Wallace, WH, Thomson, AB, Saran, F, Kelsey, TW. Predicting age of ovarian failure after radiation to a field that includes the ovaries. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, 2005;62:738–744.Google Scholar
Sanders, JE, Hawley, J, Levy, W et al. Pregnancies following high-dose cyclophosphamide with or without high-dose busulfan or total-body irradiation and bone marrow transplantation. Blood, 1996;87:3045–3052.Google Scholar
Salooja, N, Szydlo, RM, Socie, G et al. Pregnancy outcomes after peripheral blood or bone marrow transplantation: a retrospective survey. Lancet, 2001;358:271–276.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Signorello, LB, Cohen, SS, Bosetti, C et al. Female survivors of childhood cancer: preterm birth and low birth weight among their children. J Natl Cancer Inst, 2006;98:1453–1461.Google Scholar
Reulen, RC, Bright, CJ, Winter, DL et al. Pregnancy and labor complications in female survivors of childhood cancer: the British childhood cancer survivor study. J Natl Cancer Inst, 2017;109. DOI:10.1093/jnci/djx1056Google Scholar
Bath, LE, Critchley, HOD, Chambers, SE et al. Ovarian and uterine characteristics after total body irradiation in childhood and adolescence: response to sex steroid replacement. Brit J Obstet Gynaecol, 1999;106:1265–1272.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelsey, TW, Ginbey, E, Chowdhury, MM et al. A validated normative model for human uterine volume from birth to age 40 years. PLoS One, 2016;11:e0157375.Google Scholar
Bath, LE, Anderson, RA, Critchley, HOD, Kelnar, CJH, Wallace, WHB. Hypothalamic–pituitary-ovarian dysfunction after prepubertal chemotherapy and cranial irradiation for acute leukaemia. Hum Reprod, 2001;16:1838–1844.Google Scholar
Ogilvy-Stuart, AL, Shalet, SM. Effect of radiation on the human reproductive system. Environ Health Perspect, 1993;101(Suppl 2):109–116.Google Scholar
van Dorp, W, Mulder, RL, Kremer, LC et al. Recommendations for premature ovarian insufficiency surveillance for female survivors of childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer: a report from the international late effects of childhood cancer guideline harmonization group in collaboration with the PanCareSurFup consortium. J Clin Oncol, 2016;34:3440–3450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, DM, Kawashima, T, Stovall, M et al. Fertility of female survivors of childhood cancer: a report from the childhood cancer survivor study. J Clin Oncol, 2009;27:2677–2685.Google Scholar
Green, DM, Sklar, CA, Boice, JD, Jr. et al. Ovarian failure and reproductive outcomes after childhood cancer treatment: results from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. J Clin Oncol, 2009;27:2374–2381.Google Scholar
Chow, EJ, Stratton, KL, Leisenring, WM et al. Pregnancy after chemotherapy in male and female survivors of childhood cancer treated between 1970 and 1999: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort. Lancet Oncol, 2016;17:567–576.Google Scholar
Barton, SE, Najita, JS, Ginsburg, ES et al. Infertility, infertility treatment, and achievement of pregnancy in female survivors of childhood cancer: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study cohort. Lancet Oncol, 2013;14:873–881.Google Scholar
Letourneau, JM, Ebbel, EE, Katz, PP et al. Acute ovarian failure underestimates age-specific reproductive impairment for young women undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. Cancer, 2012;118:1933–1939.Google Scholar
Bramswig, JH, Riepenhausen, M, Schellong, G. Parenthood in adult female survivors treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma during childhood and adolescence: a prospective, longitudinal study. Lancet Oncol, 2015;16:667–675.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Behringer, K, Breuer, K, Reineke, T et al. Secondary amenorrhea after Hodgkin’s lymphoma is influenced by age at treatment, stage of disease, chemotherapy regimen, and the use of oral contraceptives during therapy: a report from the German Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Study Group. J Clin Oncol, 2005;23:7555–7564.Google Scholar
Swerdlow, AJ, Cooke, R, Bates, A et al. Risk of premature menopause after treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. J Natl Cancer Inst, 2014;106(pii):dju207.Google Scholar
Petrek, JA, Naughton, MJ, Case, LD et al. Incidence, time course, and determinants of menstrual bleeding after breast cancer treatment: a prospective study. J Clin Oncol, 2006;24:1045–1051.Google Scholar
Bath, LE, Wallace, WH, Shaw, MP, Fitzpatrick, C, Anderson, RA. Depletion of ovarian reserve in young women after treatment for cancer in childhood: detection by anti-Mullerian hormone, inhibin B and ovarian ultrasound. Hum Reprod, 2003;18:2368–2374.Google Scholar
Jayasinghe, YL, Wallace, WHB, Anderson, RA. Ovarian function, fertility and reproductive lifespan in cancer patients. Expert Rev Endocrinol Metab, 2018;13:125–136.Google Scholar
Anderson, RA, Themmen, APN, Al Qahtani, A, Groome, NP, Cameron, DA. The effects of chemotherapy and long-term gonadotrophin suppression on the ovarian reserve in premenopausal women with breast cancer. Human Reprod, 2006;21:2583–2592.Google Scholar
Chai, J, Howie, AF, Cameron, DA, Anderson, RA. A highly-sensitive anti-Mullerian hormone assay improves analysis of ovarian function following chemotherapy for early breast cancer. Eur J Cancer, 2014;50:2367–2374.Google Scholar
Dezellus, A, Barriere, P, Campone, M et al. Prospective evaluation of serum anti-Mullerian hormone dynamics in 250 women of reproductive age treated with chemotherapy for breast cancer. Eur J Cancer, 2017;79:72–80.Google Scholar
Su, HC, Haunschild, C, Chung, K et al. Prechemotherapy antimullerian hormone, age, and body size predict timing of return of ovarian function in young breast cancer patients. Cancer, 2014;120:3691–3698.Google Scholar
Anderson, RA, Cameron, DA. Pretreatment serum anti-mullerian hormone predicts long-term ovarian function and bone mass after chemotherapy for early breast cancer. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2011;96:1336–1343.Google Scholar
Hagen, CP, Vestergaard, S, Juul, A et al. Low concentration of circulating antimullerian hormone is not predictive of reduced fecundability in young healthy women: a prospective cohort study. Fertil Steril, 2012;98:1602–1608 e1602.Google Scholar
Steiner, AZ, Pritchard, D, Stanczyk, FZ et al. Association between biomarkers of ovarian reserve and infertility among older women of reproductive age. JAMA, 2017;318:1367–1376.Google Scholar
Anderson, RA, Brewster, DH, Wood, R et al. The impact of cancer on subsequent chance of pregnancy: a population-based analysis. Hum Reprod, 2018;33:1281–1290.Google Scholar
van Beek, RD, Smit, M, van den Heuvel-Eibrink, MM et al. Inhibin B is superior to FSH as a serum marker for spermatogenesis in men treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma with chemotherapy during childhood. Hum Reprod, 2007;22:3215–3222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Green, DM, Zhu, L, Zhang, N et al. Lack of specificity of plasma concentrations of inhibin B and follicle-stimulating hormone for identification of azoospermic survivors of childhood cancer: a report from the St Jude lifetime cohort study. J Clin Oncol, 2013;31:1324–1328.Google Scholar
Kelsey, TW, McConville, L, Edgar, AB et al. Follicle Stimulating Hormone is an accurate predictor of azoospermia in childhood cancer survivors. PLoS One, 2017;12:e0181377.Google Scholar
Wallace, WH, Smith, AG, Kelsey, TW, Edgar, AE, Anderson, RA Fertility preservation for girls and young women with cancer: population-based validation of criteria for ovarian tissue cryopreservation. Lancet Oncol, 2014;15:1129–1136.Google Scholar
Jones, GL, Hughes, J, Mahmoodi, N et al. Observational study of the development and evaluation of a fertility preservation patient decision aid for teenage and adult women diagnosed with cancer: the Cancer, Fertility and Me research protocol. BMJ Open, 2017;7: e013219.Google Scholar
Peate, M, Meiser, B, Cheah, BC et al. Making hard choices easier: a prospective, multicentre study to assess the efficacy of a fertility-related decision aid in young women with early-stage breast cancer. Br J Cancer, 2012;106:1053–1061.Google Scholar
Anderson, RA, Mitchell, RT, Kelsey, TW et al. Cancer treatment and gonadal function: experimental and established strategies for fertility preservation in children and young adults. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol, 2015;3:556–567.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×