Elisabeth Korte1, Ralph Schilling1, Magdalena Balcerek1,2, Helen Campbell3, Uta Dirksen4,5, Gloria Herrmann6, Katerina Kepakova7, Tomas Kepak7, Stephanie Klco-Brosius4, Jarmila Kruseova8, Marina Kunstreich9, Herwig Lackner10, Thorsten Langer11, Anna Panasiuk12, Joanna Stefanowicz13, Gabriele Strauß14, Andreas Ranft4,5, Julianne Byrne3, Lutz Goldbeck6, Anja Borgmann-Staudt1. 1. Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health (BIH), Berlin, Germany. 2. Berlin Institute of Health, BIH, Berlin, Germany. 3. Boyne Research Institute, Drogheda, Ireland. 4. University Hospital Essen Pediatrics III, West German Cancer Centre, Essen, Germany. 5. German Cancer Research Centre (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany. 6. Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany. 7. University Hospital Brno & International Clinical Research Center (FNUSA-ICRC), Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. 8. Motol Teaching Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic. 9. Department of Paediatric Oncology, Haematology and Immunology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany. 10. Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria. 11. Paediatric Oncology and Hematology, University Hospital for Children and Adolescents, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany. 12. Medical University of Bialystok, Białystok, Poland. 13. Department of Pediatrics, Hematology and Oncology, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland. 14. Helios Kliniken Berlin-Buch, Klinik für Kinder- und Jugendmedizin, Chemnitz, Germany.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: As adolescent cancer patients may suffer from infertility following treatment, fertility counselling is essential. Our aim was to explore the current situation in four European countries in terms of (I) education about the risk for infertility, (II) counselling on fertility preservation, (III) patients' knowledge on fertility, (IV) sufficiency of information and (V) uptake of cryopreservation. METHODS: In total, 113 patients (13-20 years) at 11 study centres completed a self-report questionnaire three and six months after cancer diagnosis. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: As many as 80.2% of participants reported having received education about the risk for infertility prior to treatment, 73.2% recalled counselling on fertility preservation. Only 52.3% stated they felt sufficiently informed to make a decision. Inability to recall counselling on fertility preservation (OR = 0.03, CI: 0.00-0.47) and female gender (OR = 0.11, CI: 0.03-0.48) was associated with lower use of cryopreservation, whereas older age was associated with higher use. CONCLUSION: Fertility counselling was available to a relatively high proportion of patients, and it did influence the utilisation of cryopreservation. However, many patients did not feel sufficiently informed. Further improvement is needed to enable adolescent cancer patients to make an informed decision on fertility preservation.
OBJECTIVE: As adolescent cancerpatients may suffer from infertility following treatment, fertility counselling is essential. Our aim was to explore the current situation in four European countries in terms of (I) education about the risk for infertility, (II) counselling on fertility preservation, (III) patients' knowledge on fertility, (IV) sufficiency of information and (V) uptake of cryopreservation. METHODS: In total, 113 patients (13-20 years) at 11 study centres completed a self-report questionnaire three and six months after cancer diagnosis. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: As many as 80.2% of participants reported having received education about the risk for infertility prior to treatment, 73.2% recalled counselling on fertility preservation. Only 52.3% stated they felt sufficiently informed to make a decision. Inability to recall counselling on fertility preservation (OR = 0.03, CI: 0.00-0.47) and female gender (OR = 0.11, CI: 0.03-0.48) was associated with lower use of cryopreservation, whereas older age was associated with higher use. CONCLUSION: Fertility counselling was available to a relatively high proportion of patients, and it did influence the utilisation of cryopreservation. However, many patients did not feel sufficiently informed. Further improvement is needed to enable adolescent cancerpatients to make an informed decision on fertility preservation.