The American Academy of Pediatrics has updated its guidance for preserving fertility among cancer patients who are children, emphasizing the key role that pediatricians must play.
Children who survive cancer face a high risk of infertility, but interventions to preserve fertility early in the cancer treatment can help.
The updated guidance, currently available online, will be published in the March issue of the journal Pediatrics. It offers insight into the risks for infertility based on the type of cancer treatment and the child's pubertal stage. It also reviews clinical and ethical considerations with regard to fertility preservation.
The guidance also urges pediatricians to coordinate fertility preservation options as early as possible after a diagnosis, offering timely referral to centers and providers offering these options. In some cases, this may involve delaying cancer treatment, provided the delay does not decrease the chance of success of the treatment.
"Pediatricians are crucial in this effort, as they often are the first to suspect a cancer diagnosis and to coordinate care. They can have a profound impact as they help children and their caregivers navigate the process of accessing care at this critical, stressful time," the two lead authors of the report wrote.