Prevalence of fertility discussions between young adult colorectal cancer survivors and their providers.

Authors

null

Julia Stal

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Julia Stal , Serena Yi , Sally Cohen-Cutler , Phuong Gallagher , Afsaneh Barzi , Joel Milam , David R. Freyer , Heinz-Josef Lenz , Kimberly Ann Miller

Organizations

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, Colon Club, Burbank, CA, USC Keck School of Medicine Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA, USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA

Research Funding

Other
The Aflac Archie Bleyer Young Investigator Award in Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology from the Children's Oncology Group. Additional support was provided by the NCI Cancer Center Support Grant from the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

Background: Clinical guidelines indicate that oncologists should discuss potential treatment-induced infertility with patients with reproductive potential. Due to tumor location and use of multimodal therapies, young adults with colorectal cancer (CRC) are at heightened risk for treatment-related infertility. Methods: An online, cross-sectional survey was administered in collaboration with a national patient advocacy organization for young adult CRC survivors (currently under age 50). Survivors were asked to indicate if a doctor had ever talked to them about potential problems with their ability to have children after treatment and if they banked eggs/embryos (females) or sperm (males) prior to their cancer therapy. Those who reported that they did not preserve fertility were asked to indicate why (not sure; I chose not to; I did not know this was an option; I wanted to, but could not afford it; and I wanted to, but my treatment would not allow it). Results: A total of 234 colon (N=86) or rectal (N=148) cancer survivors were included in the study (male [61.9%] and White [77.9%; table]). Most respondents were diagnosed with stage 2 cancer (55.8% colon, 61.6% rectal). Over half of male and female survivors reported that their doctor did not talk to them about problems with their ability to have children after treatment, and 75% did not bank eggs/embryos or sperm prior to their cancer therapy. Of those, over 20% endorsed ‘I wanted to, but could not afford it’ and over 20% endorsed ‘I did not know this was an option’. Conclusions: Most CRC survivors in this study reported never having a fertility discussion with their provider, suggesting that survivors are not receiving, or cannot recall, comprehensive and guideline-concordant cancer care. In addition, one-fifth were not aware of preservation options, suggesting potential healthcare and/or provider-level barriers to appropriate fertility counseling. Fertility preservation cost is another barrier to the appropriate delivery of care. Providers must ensure that patients receive timely fertility discussions covering options to preserve fertility to mitigate this late effect of cancer treatment to ensure optimal quality of life for CRC patients with reproductive potential.

Fertility preservation frequencies (N=234).

Gender
Male
Female
Has a doctor ever talked to you about problems with your ability to have children after your treatment?


 Yes
60 (41.38)
35 (41.18)
 No
81 (55.86)
49 (57.65)
 Not Sure
4 (2.76)
1 (1.18)
Did you bank eggs/embryos (female; sperm, male) prior to your cancer therapy?


 Yes
30 (20.98)
19 (22.35)
 No
107 (74.83)
64 (75.29)
 Not Sure
6 (4.20)
2 (2.35)
If no (did not bank eggs/embryos or sperm), I decided not to because...


 I wanted to, but my treatment would not allow it
9 (6.38)
4 (4.82)
 I wanted to, but could not afford it
31 (21.99)
19 (22.89)
 I did not know this was an option
33 (23.40)
18 (21.69)
 I chose not to
58 (41.13)
38 (45.78)
 Not sure
10 (7.09)
4 (4.82)

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2021 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Poster Discussion Session

Session Title

Gastrointestinal Cancer—Colorectal and Anal

Track

Gastrointestinal Cancer—Colorectal and Anal

Sub Track

Colorectal Cancer–Local-Regional Disease

Citation

J Clin Oncol 39, 2021 (suppl 15; abstr 3518)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2021.39.15_suppl.3518

Abstract #

3518

Abstract Disclosures

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