Fertility Preservation in Young Adult Patients With Cancer.

More than 60,000 young adults are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States. Many will not have started or completed their families at the time of diagnosis, and reproductive concerns are common. Practice guidelines from a number of professional organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology, highlight the need for oncology clinicians to address fertility with their at-risk patients by discussing options for fertility preservation. Fertility preservation options for men include sperm banking (through manual stimulation, electroejaculation, and testicular sperm extraction) and testicular shielding. Fertility preservation options for women include egg and embryo freezing, ovarian tissue freezing, ovarian transposition, and ovarian suppression. This article highlights several practical strategies for integrating fertility preservation discussions into daily clinical practice and ensuring that oncology professionals are able to refer interested patients to appropriate reproductive specialists.