About 120,000 women in the United States younger than 50 years develop cancer each year. Women on chemotherapy could suffer from side effects such as acute ovarian failure, infertility, and early menopause according to researchers from the University of California San Francisco. A total of 1041 women (aged 18 to 40 years) who were treated for leukemia, Hodgkin disease, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, breast cancer, and gastrointestinal cancers responded to a retrospective survey. The study, recently published online in Cancer, also found that acute ovarian failure occurred more frequently as age increased. The risk of developing early menopause and infertility increased with younger age at diagnosis. Based on current research, 7% of women develop infertility from systemic chemotherapy. The results from the survey are a signal to provide improved age-specific and personalized counseling regarding reproductive impairment before and after cancer treatment.
For more information: click Cancer.
Suggested reading:
1. Letourneau JM, Ebbel EE, Katz PP, et al. Acute ovarian failure underestimates age-specific reproductive impairment for young women undergoing chemotherapy for cancer [published online ahead of print August 17, 2011]. Cancer.
2. Howlader N, Noone AM, Krapcho M, et al, eds. SEER Cancer Statistics Review 1975-2008. National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD. http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2008.
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