Young cancer patients may still be able to have children
● How threat to future fertility can be overcome by taking action now
An Edinburgh University professor is helping young people diagnosed with cancer to preserve their ability to one day have children of their own.
As many as a quarter of children and young people with cancer will later experience infertility or reduced fertility as a result of harsh treatments, according to new research from Children with Cancer UK.
More than a fifth of families surveyed by the charity also said they had little or no information or support regarding long- term side effects of treatment such as infertility.
Rod Mitchell, professor of developmental endocrinology at Edinburgh University’s MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, specialises in preserving the fertility of boys treated for cancer before puberty.
H i s g r o u n d - b r e a k i n g research, funded by Children with Cancer UK, offers the possibility of storing testicular tissue from boys with cancer whose treatment puts them at high risk of future infertility.
Adam*, nine, was diagnosed wit h medullobl a s t o ma, a brain tumour, in 2018 when he was aged just six.
A few days after his diagnosis his parents met a paediatric endocrinologist at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh to discuss his fertility, which may have been i mpacted by the gruelling 18 months of surgery, chemotherapy and proton beam therapy he was about to endure.
They a pproved a pr o c e - dure to surgically remove and freeze part of one of Adam’s testicles in the hope that future advances in science would help him conceive naturally using the tissue.
“We have a signed and sealed letter from his doctor to give to him when he’s 16 to explain the procedure,” his mother Katy said.
“It gives us peace of mind to know that in 20 years’ time the treatment might be available and he may be able to be a dad. I’d advise anyone that has this option to go for it – it’s given us a glimmer of hope.”
Prof Mitchell said: “As clinical researchers working in c hi l dhoo d c a ncer, we a r e acutely aware of the long- term side effects that the treatments can cause, which often include infertility.
“Our clinical research programme is focused on preventing infertility as a result of cancer treatment, either by altering treatments to make them less damaging to future fertilit y, or by freezing and storing testicular or ovarian tissue before treatment.
“Stored tissue will be available to patients when they reach adulthood, with t he aim of restoring fertility. This provides some much- needed optimism around the time of diagnosis for children and their families.”
Alice Latham, three, from Derbyshire, was diagnosed with high- risk neuroblastoma last year. As part of her treat
ment, which she finished in May, one of her ovaries was removed and frozen.
While there is a risk the ovary may have some cancerous cells in it, her parents hope it will increase her chances of having a child in future.
Father Jamie Latham said: “To have to tell our daughter who has already been through so much that she may never be able to have children is unimaginable, but as a parent of a two- year- old daughter with neuroblastoma, you have no choice – it was either her life or her reproductive life in the future. This option gave us some hope.”
* S o me n a me s h a v e b e e n changed for privacy reasons.