According to an analysis of Dutch men, many male survivors of childhood cancer want children of their own, but about one in four do not get this desire met.
Cancer survivors’ overall desire for children was lower compared to siblings, but the likelihood of unfulfilled desire for children was about five times higher among cancer survivors.
The findings demonstrate the importance of “counseling focused on fertility-sparing options” for male survivors of childhood cancer, the authors said.
research is publish online journal last month cancer.
Studies show that cancer treatment in prepubertal boys causes a lot of infertility. For example, about 20% of male childhood cancer survivors have no sperm in their semen. A condition known as azoospermia, which often leads to infertility.
Still, it’s unclear whether childhood cancer survivors want children of their own later in life.
Dutch researchers conducted a nationwide study of male childhood cancer survivors to compare their desire for children with siblings of males with no history of cancer.
Between 2013 and 2015, a total of 1,317 male childhood cancer survivors and 407 male sib controls completed questionnaires addressing their desire for children. Participant he was 18 years or older. Researchers also looked at participants’ marital status, education level, employment status, type of diagnosis, and age at diagnosis.
The authors found that married men had fewer cancer survivors (47% vs. 57%) and fewer biological offspring (24% vs. 39%) compared with siblings.
Overall, cancer survivors were less likely than siblings to want children (74% vs. 82%; odds ratio) [OR]0.62; P. = .001). However, after adjusting for marital status, education level, and employment status, the difference narrowed (OR, 0.83; P. = .250).
Joyce Claessens, M.D., lead author at Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, said, “The differences in desire for children between male survivors and their siblings were partly explained by sociodemographic factors.” Survivors are less likely to be romantically involved, more likely to be unemployed and less educated, and it is important to recognize that these factors can influence their desire for children.”
The authors also found that significantly more childhood cancer survivors had unsatisfied desires for their children (25% vs. 7% of siblings). Also, cancer survivors and siblings were almost five times more likely to deal with unsatisfied needs for their children (OR, 4.90). This finding held even after adjusting for marital status, education level, employment status, and age at which participants completed the questionnaire.
This unsatisfied need varied according to the type of cancer treatment participants received as children. Cancer survivors who received chemotherapy plus radiation therapy were more than twice as likely to have unsatisfied desires for their children as cancer survivors who received chemotherapy alone (OR, 2.20).
The authors highlighted some limitations of their analysis. For example, the data were obtained almost 10 years ago, during which time fertility preservation and reproductive medicine have advanced.
The authors say this is the first study to report the desire for children among male childhood cancer survivors, warranting follow-up studies that include more recent data, and that some men have decided not to have children. He pointed out that he explained why.
“It is important to gather more insight into survivors’ desire to have children in order to understand their needs and the problems they experience with regard to family planning,” said Klasens.
This study was funded by the Dutch Cancer Society. The authors declare no related financial relationships.
cancerPublished online on March 7, 2023. full text
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