How do you approach fertility preservation in a young child with cancer?

After the diagnosis is known, we meet with the families to discuss the known risks for infertility based on what we know about the treatment regimen they are to receive. For example, a patient with Ewing's sarcoma will receive high dose alkylators and therefore, is at significant risk for future infertility, as is a stage III wilms tumor patient who needs abdominal radiation. For patients who are at high risk for future infertility, we would present them with fertility preservation options. At m...

The standard of care at our center is to provide every new pediatric and AYA oncology and BMT patient a fertility risk assessment and consult regarding preservation options at the time of their diagnosis or relapse. Our team uses the risk stratification tables published by Meacham et al., PMID 32456570 in 2020 to provide a fertility risk assessment for each patient based on their planned treatment plan. Based on their risk and pubertal status, we review the preservation options available to them...