Tag: cancer

Fertility Clock Headlines, Fertility Headlines

The Possibility of Infertility Looms for Cancer Patient

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Staff writer Andrea Torres chronicles her breast cancer experiences in Tropical Life.

A woman in her early 30s should not have to think about infertility. But breast cancer changes everything.

Doctors have highly recommended that I have a hysterectomy, surgery to remove the uterus, and a prophylactic oophorectomy, removal of my ovaries. Both would be a preemptive move against uterine and ovarian cancer, which can develop after breast cancer.

Thinking about it has been difficult, especially faced with a gynecological appointment this week. On Saturday, I had a crying episode that lasted hours. I haven’t had one in months. Three of my best friends, all males, tried to comfort me.

I called Lawrence Pena, 34, who has a 2-year-old girl named Ella. After he heard my trembling voice, he asked, “What happened?”

“I sat in the shower holding my stomach crying this morning,” I said. “I haven’t been able to stop the tears.”

He listened and said, “It’s going to be OK.” I was calm again. He talked for a bit. And then his phone died.

Although the surgery is common, I am scared. Every 10 minutes, 12 hysterectomies are performed in the United States, or about 600,000 in a year. And about one-tenth of 1 percent of those, about 660 women, die from complications.

Also, when the procedures are done before age 45, there is an increased mortality risk associated with cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, a decline in psychological well-being, and neurologic and mental disorders, such as cognitive impairment, dementia and Parkinsonism, which is similar to Parkinson’s disease. Of course, there are others who don’t experience these issues.

Estrogen treatment may prevent some of these, but for some breast cancer patients, estrogen feeds tumors. To block estrogen, I am taking a chemoprevention drug called Tamoxifen for the next five years. The drug protects me from osteoporosis, but increases the risk of cancer in the uterus.

Even more concerning is that I inherited a genetic mutation known as BRCA2. This increases my risk for breast and ovarian cancer. Hence, my doctors’ recommendation to undergo a hysterectomy and remove my ovaries. Compounding this are uterine fibroids and some “abnormal cells” found in the uterus.

Some women, who are not as high risk, may have the option of undergoing regular pelvic exams, combined with ultrasounds and blood tests to monitor any possible irregularities in their uterus and ovaries.

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Doctor’s advice: early menopause

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DR Cindy Pan sheds light on how to manage your physical and emotional health during premature menopause.

** Question: I am 38 and have been diagnosed with premature menopause. I am very distressed and wonder how this could have happened. I am struggling to cope with the physical, mental and emotional symptoms of menopause in addition to the sense of grief, loss and change in identity. Please help.

— Answer: It is understandable for a woman to feel devastated with the diagnosis of premature menopause. It is, of course, not simply symptoms of hot flushes, vaginal dryness, mood swings, irritability, dry skin, eyes and mouth, sleep disturbance and decreased sex drive that can be distressing, but also the loss of fertility that can have a massive impact.

This is particularly evident if the woman has not yet had children. That said, IVF using donor eggs is an option some women with premature menopause choose to explore.

About one per cent of women experience premature menopause, which is defined as cessation of ovulation and menstruation before 40. It can occur as early as the teens or early 20s. In most cases, the reasons for it are not known, but sometimes there may be an association with an autoimmune condition (such as hypothyroidism, Graves’ disease, Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis or lupus), a genetic condition or family history.

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Pfizer Paid $896 Million in Prempro Settlements

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Pfizer Inc. (PFE), the world’s largest drugmaker, said in a securities filing that it has paid $896 million to resolve about 60 percent of the cases alleging its menopause drugs caused cancer in women.

Pfizer has now settled about 6,000 lawsuits that claim Prempro and other hormone-replacement drugs caused breast cancer, and it has set aside an additional $330 million to resolve the remaining 4,000 suits, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The reserve means New York-based Pfizer has committed more than $1.2 billion to resolving claims that its Wyeth and Pharmacia & Upjohn units failed to properly warn women about the menopause drugs’ health risk. Based on the May 10 filing, the company is paying an average of about $150,000 a case.

“It’s good for the company not to let this litigation linger,” Les Funtleyder, a New York-based fund manager at Miller Tabak & Co. in New York who holds Pfizer shares, said yesterday in a phone interview. “Resolving these cases gives investors one less thing to worry about.”
More than 6 million women took Prempro and related menopause drugs to treat symptoms including hot flashes and mood swings before a 2002 study highlighted their links to cancer. Wyeth’s sales of the medicines, which are still on the market, exceeded $2 billion before the release of the Women’s Health Initiative, a study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

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Fertility Preservation Talks are More Direct for Men than for Women

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Whereas sperm banking was viewed as a routine part of oncology care for men, few women were afforded the opportunity to discuss their fertility options at cancer diagnosis, according to the findings of a small study.

After receiving a diagnosis of cancer, 16 men and 18 women aged 17 to 49 years were interviewed soon after their first consultation with a cancer-focused health professional. Topics discussed included the patient’s perceptions and understanding of the diagnosis; prognosis and future reproductive choices; perceived quality and source of information received, communication, and support; and the roles of partners, family members, friends, and health care professionals.

In addition, 15 health care professionals were asked for their opinions on the information given to younger people with cancer, their knowledge and views of the treatments available with respect to fertility preservation, and their perceptions of patients’ priorities.

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Nonprofits help cancer survivors with fertility preservation

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At 31 years old, Alice Crisci was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The Redondo Beach resident bared it all in a photo shoot with the Daily Breeze back in 2008 before undergoing a double mastectomy.

The photos were a celebration of her body before cancer would change it forever. The newspaper continued to follow her journey, including her decision to ensure that after remission she’d have a chance at realizing her dream of becoming a mother.

“I learned very early on in the process that my fertility would be at risk, that there was a 50/50 chance I’d be left infertile,” says Crisci, now 35. “And that was a chance I wasn’t willing to take.”

So Crisci went through fertility preservation, a process that cost her $20,000 and had to be paid in full that day. Not qualifying for financial assistance, she charged the entire amount on her American Express card.

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Men and women receive different fertility advice following cancer diagnosis

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There are significant gaps in the information women receive about their future fertility following cancer diagnosis, suggests a new paper published today (30 May) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Infertility can be a side-effect of cancer treatment and there are increasing numbers of people of reproductive age undergoing such treatment.

This study – led by the University of Aberdeen and NHS Grampian – looks at perceptions and use of fertility preservation techniques in both men and women of reproductive age who have recently been diagnosed with cancer.

It is the first study to explore the experience of discussing future fertility at the time of cancer diagnosis amongst younger men and women.

Sixteen men and 18 women aged 17-49 took part along with 15 health professionals concerned in cancer care. Patients were receiving treatment for blood related and other cancers between August 2008 and June 2010.

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IVF Treatment and Overall Rate of Breast Cancer…

ASRM News and Research

In a large population-based study out of Western Australia, researchers have found that IVF is not associated with an overall increased risk of breast cancer. However, the analysis of 20 years’ worth of linked hospital and registry records demonstrates an underlying, age-related connection between IVF treatment and breast cancer.  The effect of IVF on breast cancer rates differed depending on the age of the women at the time treatment was commenced.  In younger, but not older, patients there was an association between having IVF and an increased risk of breast cancer.