Fertility Preservation Often Overlooked In Women's Cancer Care, Review Finds

Key TakeawaysWomen aren’t always offered fertility preservation as part of their cancer careCancer treatments can render women infertileHowever, low rates of discussions, consultations and procedures were observed in many studies.MONDAY, June 29, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Infertility is considered one of the most distressing concerns facing girls and young women with cancer.Despite this, young female cancer patients are offered fertility preservation (FP) procedures at less than half the rate of male patients, a new evidence review has found.Fertility preservation occurred at very low rates — less than 1% to as many as 45% of cases — in 14 of 18 studies analyzed as part of a new review published in the journal Cancer.Similarly low rates were found for discussions of FP options between patients and doctors, as well as for consultations with fertility specialists, the review found.“The wide variability in fertility preservation care mirrors prior literature indicating that fertility preservation remains inconsistently integrated into oncology practice, particularly for female patients,” wrote the research team led by Melissa Beauchemin, an assistant professor at Columbia University School of Nursing.Each year, more than 85,000 individuals between 15 and 39 years of age are diagnosed with cancer in the U.S., researchers said in background notes.Women with cancer can be rendered infertile due the toxic effects of cancer treatment, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).To protect their fertility, women can opt to have their embryos, eggs or ovarian tissue preserved, the ACS said.Guidelines issued in 2006 by the American Society of Clinical Oncology emphasized fertility preservation as essential to cancer care, researchers noted.To see whether those guidelines were being followed, researchers analyzed 25 studies that looked at different aspects of FP — whether it was being done and even if it had been discussed with a doctor or fertility specialist.Results showed that:Fertility preservation care occurred in less than 1% up to 70% of cases, with most studies finding rates of less than half.Discussions with health care providers ranged from 9% to 75% of cases, with half of the studies finding rates 36% of lower.Consultations with fertility specialists ranged from less than 1% up to 57%, with rates lower than 21% in six out of nine cases.Black women, Hispanic women and those living in areas with lower levels of education, income and economic status were less likely to receive fertility preservation care, researchers found.“Consistent with prior literature, racial and ethnic minority patients were significantly less likely to receive counseling, referrals or complete fertility preservation,” researchers wrote. “Similar inequities have been documented across other domains of survivorship care, suggesting that barriers to fertility preservation reflect broader structural inequities within oncology systems.”Women who were older — but still of reproductive age — tended to be offered FP less often than younger women, researchers found.“Younger age was consistently associated with higher fertility preservation care rates, which may reflect both clinician perceptions of reproductive potential and patient‐driven motivation for future family building,” researchers said.However, older women might want to pursue fertility preservation as well, especially if they’ve never had a child or are recently partnered, researchers noted.“Despite nearly two decades of clinical guidelines establishing FP care as a core component of high‐quality oncology care, our findings reveal persistent and inequitable gaps in access shaped by demographic, socioeconomic and geographic factors,” researchers concluded.More informationThe American Cancer Society has more on fertility preservation for female cancer patients.SOURCE: Columbia University Irving Medical Center, news release, June 23, 2026 .What This Means For YouWomen receiving a cancer diagnosis who may want children in the future should talk to their doctors about fertility preservation. .Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Fertility Preservation Often Overlooked In Women's Cancer Care, Review Finds

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