Your Health: Support for young cancer patients

By Steven Lindheim, MD, UC Health 8:50 AM Friday, August 13, 2010

Today, young adults have a better chance at surviving cancer and other serious diseases than ever before. The cures, however, such as chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, can sometimes kill the chances of reproducing.

Since most cancer patients are of reproductive age, it can be very emotional and expensive for a young person to handle all that’s being thrown at them — a diagnosis, plus the risk of infertility.

That’s why I recently led the effort to have the center where I practice be designated a partner site for Sharing Hope Program, a program created by the Lance Armstrong LIVESTRONG Foundation which provides educational, moral and financial support to patients whose medical treatment could rob them of biological parenthood.

It seemed a perfect partnership, since we were already one of 50 sites in the nation that belong to the Oncofertility Consortium — a national, interdisciplinary initiative designed to explore the reproductive future of cancer survivors. Here, we have the ability to offer both men and women options for preserving their reproductive health with egg, embryo, sperm and ovarian tissue freezing.

In many cases these options are not covered by insurance; thus the partnering with LIVESTRONG’s Sharing Hope. The foundation does not provide funding to patients, but instead has worked with companies and clinics to arrange for discounted services and donated medications for those who qualify.

According to the application guidelines, a must is that the patient has not undergone any medical treatments prior to applying. In most cases, it takes less than two weeks to harvest eggs for preservation.

I came to Cincinnati from California this year because the UC Health Center for Reproductive Health is widely known for its in vitro fertilization program, which started in 1989.

Up until a few years ago, when a patient was faced with a grim diagnosis, the thought of reproduction would not have entered their mind. Now, oncologists and surgeons are doing a great job of suggesting that patients also get infertility counseling.

Preservation attempts are not necessarily cost prohibitive and don’t always involve banking, because there are also medications that help protect the reproductive organs.

There is always hope.

Steven Lindheim, MD, sees patients at the UC Health Medical Office Building in West Chester.

Share this article