The U of M’s Reproductive Medicine Center is working to advance fertility preservation techniques for cancer patients.
Each year in the United States more than 125,000 people of reproductive age are diagnosed with cancer. But one of the major side effects of cancer treatment – be it chemotherapy, radiation or bone marrow transplants – is the possibility that the patient will become sterile.
The University of Minnesota Physicians’ Reproductive Medicine Center (RMC) works to combat that side effect through fertility preservation. Thanks to modern medicine, reproductive medicine experts provide hope for patients who hope to start a family later in life, after they’ve beaten their disease.
The U of M offers several different types of preservation for both men and women. These treatments range from freezing eggs (oocyte cryopreservation) and sperm banking to more advanced procedures.
The trick, said the Reproductive Medicine Center’s Laboratory Director Dr. Chris De Jonge, is a rapid response and communication with oncology experts.
“We try to get the patients in as soon as possible to start the preservation process,” said De Jonge. “The more time we have before chemotherapy treatment begins, the more likely it will be that we have successful fertility preservation.”
In one scenario, physicians start by using hormones to produce a number of eggs in women.
Once mature, the eggs are harvested, frozen and stored for future use. Patient profiles are maintained to ensure continuous contact with their doctor, giving them the ability to retrieve their eggs/sperm when they are ready to start a family.
Keeping the Lines of Communication Open
With cancer patients’ survival rates continually increasing, the need to get the word out about these procedures is critical.
The Reproductive Medicine Center, University of Minnesota Physicians and Masonic Cancer Center collaborate to find ways to remind doctors about the importance of discussing the option of fertility preservation with their patients.
“The problem we’ve found in the past is that many patients undergo cancer treatment not understanding how it affects their fertility,” said De Jonge. “That’s why our physicians work together to get the word out about preservation.”
This collaboration brings together experts in the latest assisted reproductive technologies that tailor treatment to each patient’s unique fertility condition.
The future of fertility preservation
Adult cancer patients are not the only group that needs to be informed about fertility preservation. Adolescents do too. Most pediatric cancer patients don’t think about sterility and the idea of not being able to have a family in the future, but it’s important for them to be thinking about the concept.
Current U of M research hopes to provide prepubescent cancer patients with hope for starting a family of their own.
Freezing tissue from reproductive organs in adolescents may give them the same hope as adult patients. The procedure is not yet perfected, but if U of M researchers have their way – it soon will be.
“Our end goal is to make sure everyone, no matter their age or sex, has hope of starting a family later in life,” said De Jonge.
For more information on fertility preservation opportunities and research visit the Reproductive Medicine Center’s website.
