Chemotherapy and its Impact on a Woman's Fertility

The news source is Medical News Today and the study was done by University of California, San Francisco. A new research conducted confirms that the impact of chemotherapy on women’s reproductive health is too low.

Chemotherapy is one of the widely used treatments for cancer. With the previous studies conducted, amenorrhea or the lack of menstruation is usually experienced by most women shortly after treatment, as the primary reproductive side effect of chemotherapy.

In the study, the researchers not only focused on age-specific effects of the treatment, but also on longer-term, age-specific outcomes including infertility and early menopause. The researchers used the California Cancer Registry, a statewide population-based cancer surveillance system, to ask women about their reproductive history pre and post cancer treatment. Survey questions addressed acute ovarian failure (cessation of menses after treatment), early menopause (menopause before 45 years old), and infertility (failed conception).

A total of 1,041 women diagnosed with one of five targeted cancers between 18 to 40 year-olds responded, and 620 reported having been treated with only chemotherapy. The five chosen cancer types were leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, breast cancer and gastrointestinal cancers of which they are common non-gynecologic cancer groups that can be treated with systemic chemotherapy.

The results revealed that a percentage of women reporting acute ovarian failure were 8 percent, 10 percent, 9 percent and 5 percent for Hodgkin's disease, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, breast cancer, and gastrointestinal cancers respectively. Acute ovarian failure increased significantly with age at diagnosis. In women without acute ovarian failure, the incidence of infertility increased significantly with age at diagnosis.

According to the researchers, chemotherapy essentially narrows a woman's reproductive window by causing a range of damage to the ovaries, even if the menses resume after chemotherapy. The estimated probability of early menopause increased significantly with younger age at early detection of having any type of cancer.

They also noted proportions of infertility among cancer survivors that appear considerably higher than those in the general United States population, thus, counseling of patients should focus solely on short-term outcomes like loss of menses of which women may unrealistically assess their risks of experiencing infertility or early menopause years to decades after treatment.

In closing, it is safe to conclude that the benefits of chemotherapy generally outweigh its effects of which patients must not worry about especially if you have your health insurance with you. If you are unlucky enough to have none, then, probably now is the time for you to browse the internet and search for the best insurance provider in your city.