Iranian Oncologists’ Attitude towards Fertility Preservation in a Sample Group

BACKGROUND Recent advances in cancer treatment have resulted in an increased number of cancer survivors. Fertility might be impaired by cancer itself or through gonadal damage as a consequence of radio-chemotherapy. Damages to reproductive organs are seen in minimally upto 30% of cancer patients. The aim of the present study was evaluate the attitude of Iranian oncologists toward fertility preservation. METHODS Thirty oncologists filled an author-designed questionnaire which included five multiple choice questions at Mahak hospital, Tehran in 2009. The data were collected and analyzed by SPSS 11.5 software. RESULTS More than half of the oncologists believed that radio-chemotherapy has destructive effects on reproductive organs. This study showed that as high as 67% of the respondants believed fertility preservation should be offered to all patients at risk, but 40% of them insisted that the patients should bring up the topic themselves. Only 46% of the oncologist knew about fertility preservation techniques. The greatest barriers for accepting fertility preservation by the parents of children undergoing cancer treatment were: lack of information (41%), hopelessness from treatment prognosis (33%), fear of delay in starting the treatment (15%) and the priority of child survival (11%). CONCLUSION The specific challenges of counseling are time pressure between diagnosis and start of treatment, little knowledge about fertility preservation both by treating oncologists and parents; therefore a team consisting of oncologists, infertility specialists and social workers is recommended in these settings.