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Current Practice, Attitude, and Knowledge of Oncologists Regarding Male Fertility Preservation

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The Complete Guide to Male Fertility Preservation

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Abstract

Oncofertility addresses the reproductive needs of patients with cancer facing fertility-threatening treatments. Many patients perceive education about fertility preservation as inadequate and untimely. This notion has been confirmed with several national surveys, which found that health-care providers refer patients to reproductive specialists less than 50% of the time. While both patients and health-care providers believe that discussing fertility preservation is important, barriers exist at the patient, provider, and socioeconomic levels that prevent completion. Barriers include patient psychological distress preventing discussion, provider lack of knowledge and comfort with fertility preservation (FP), lack of institutional resources, and potential costs. Both American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) have developed guidelines regarding fertility considerations and each recommends oncologists discuss treatment-related fertility issues as early as possible with young cancer patients and expedite appropriate referrals for fertility preservation. With increasing cancer survivorship, additional education and resources regarding FP are essential to help improve patients’ long-term quality of life.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, 39 Sabin Street, MSC 635, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA

    Jenny Riley MD & Sara Barnato Giordano MD

Authors
  1. Jenny Riley MD
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  2. Sara Barnato Giordano MD
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Correspondence to Sara Barnato Giordano MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar

    Ahmad Majzoub

  2. Department of Urology, Andrology Center, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Ashok Agarwal

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Riley, J., Giordano, S.B. (2018). Current Practice, Attitude, and Knowledge of Oncologists Regarding Male Fertility Preservation. In: Majzoub, A., Agarwal, A. (eds) The Complete Guide to Male Fertility Preservation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42396-8_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42396-8_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-42395-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-42396-8

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