Cross sectional survey of male adolescent and young adult (AYA) childhood cancer survivors regarding fertility.

Abstract

e22019 Background: 30% of male cancer patients receive gonadotoxic therapy that results in infertility. Research exploring male cancer survivors’ attitudes regarding risk of infertility has focused on adults. To understand how AYA survivors perceive their risk of fertility, a cross sectional survey was conducted of male AYA survivors of pediatric cancer. Methods: After IRB approval, the home institution’s database was queried to identify subjects. Eligibility criteria included male survivors between the ages of 15-25 years who had completed treatment in the last 5 years. A self-report survey was designed to assess perspectives of male survivors of pediatric cancer on survivorship with a focus on fertility. Descriptive analysis was performed for all demographic variables collected. To identify whether there was an association between specific demographic variables on survivors’ perspectives regarding their fertility, Fisher’s Exact Test was used (cut-off p-value: 0.05). Results: 33 patients enrolled. Two were deemed ineligible (n = 31). Median age was 20 yrs. Disease and treatment demographics encompassed a wide range of diagnoses and therapy. Subjects were evenly divided as to whether they expected difficulty siring a successful pregnancy. No demographic variable was significantly associated with survivors’ belief that they would have difficulty. A majority recalled being informed during treatment that they may have difficulty siring a pregnancy and having been offered sperm cryopreservation. Of the 22 patients who did not participate in cryopreservation, 12 reported they would have done so to protect their fertility; one would not. Subjects were split as to whether they would have waited to start treatment to allow for cryopreservation. Conclusions: Male survivors of pediatric malignancy are concerned with their future fertility and are informed regarding their risk. Male patients should be counseled regarding their fertility risk and options for fertility preservation. [Table: see text]