For the first time ever, young adults and the parents of children diagnosed with cancer—and the physicians who treat them—have a comprehensive, bilingual resource to give them critically important guidance about preserving their fertility before and during cancer treatment.
The Hormone Foundation, the public education arm of The Endocrine Society, and the Oncofertility Consortium at Northwestern University released today SaveMyFertility—a multi-media suite of materials about fertility preservation options for cancer patients and the hormonal impact of cancer treatment on adults and children.
"Deciding how best to protect an adult or child's fertility should be part of every physician's discussion with a newly diagnosed young cancer patient," said Teresa Woodruff, PhD, director of the Oncofertility Consortium and member of The Endocrine Society's governing Council. "We created SaveMyFertilty to help patients and their physicians have this vitally important discussion and to provide information tools about fertility preservation."
Each year, approximately 140,000 Americans under the age of 45 are diagnosed with cancer. Even though most patients have a good chance for survival, many risk losing their fertility as a result of cancer treatments. Less than 50 percent of cancer patients receive adequate fertility information prior to treatment.
The SaveMyFertility initiative consists of:
•Printed pocket guide series for healthcare providers outlining treatment options for men, women, and children, and providing talking points for better patient discussion;
•iSaveFertility mobile application available from Apple's App Store, allowing physicians to download the SaveMyFertility pocket guides and email the initiative's four patient education fact sheets directly to patients in both English and Spanish; and
•SaveMyFertility.org web site offering printable versions of the physician pocket guides and the patient fact sheets in English and Spanish.
All products were developed under the guidance of a cancer communications specialist and physicians with expertise in oncology and endocrinology in men, women, and children.
The pocket guides are being distributed to more than 20,000 physicians practicing in the medical specialties of oncology, pediatric oncology, obstetrics and gynecology, urology, and reproductive endocrinology.
"SaveMyFertility helps fill an unmet need for cancer patients and their doctors," said Patricia Green, director of The Hormone Foundation. "Faced with only a few weeks between diagnosis and treatment to preserve fertility, SaveMyFertility provides patients with key questions to ask, and information they need to effectively partner with their doctors in critical decisions surrounding their care."
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