Desire to have Children and Cancer

Cancer therapies can limit fertility. This applies to all genders. In this post, we explain the woman’s perspective and why it is very important to take fertility preservation measures before cancer treatment. If there is a desire to have children, it should be considered that cancer therapy can have an impact on family planning.

Thanks to medical advances, modern cancer treatment options are now available that significantly improve the long-term outcomes of cancer patients. This also raises questions about the desire to have children. About 10 percent of women with cancer are under the age of 40. So, medically, they are of childbearing age. However, many cancer therapies are associated with a direct or indirect reduction in or even loss of fertility. The latest developments in the field of reproductive medicine enable effective, fertility-preserving measures in the context of cancer therapy.

Important facts

Immediately after the diagnosis, young cancer patients are often confronted with the question of whether they want to start a family or have more children. This is because the treatment that helps you beat cancer may also affect your ability to reproduce. This leads to a situation in which time is of the essence. Therefore, it is important to deal with the subject of the desire to have children before starting therapy.

Cancer cells divide uncontrollably and grow beyond the natural boundaries of the organ. Subsequently, many individual cells together form what is known as a tumor, which can also be referred to as a tumour. A woman’s fertility can be affected for a variety of reasons. On the one hand, tumors can affect the sex organs directly (e.g. in uterine or ovarian cancer). On the other hand, the corresponding therapy can have a negative effect on fertility. Not only the chemotherapy, but also the operation or any radiation or hormone therapies can cause direct (e.g. damage to egg cells) and indirect effects such as physical weakness (fatigue). Psychological factors also play a special role in dealing with a cancer diagnosis.

Influence of cancer therapy on family planning

What are the effects of cancer treatments, such as surgery, radiation or chemotherapy, on fertility? In particular, operations on the female reproductive organs (womb, cervix or ovaries) can impair a woman’s fertility and, in the worst case, also mean that pregnancy can no longer occur. The influence depends on the cancer and the required therapy. In principle, operations in the abdomen and pelvis that do not directly affect the female genital organs can also have a negative impact on reproductive capacity. In women, for example, scarring and adhesions can prevent pregnancy and lead to premature birth or miscarriage.

The drugs used in chemotherapy, so-called cytostatics, intervene more or less directly in cell division. Since the cytostatics do not distinguish between healthy and affected cells, not only the cancer cells are destroyed, but also intact cells. For example, the ovaries can be affected. The drugs have different effects on fertility. In addition to the substance, the dose is also decisive for the effect on fertility. The biological factor of age also plays a role: the older a woman is, the more likely it is that she will become infertile as a result of the treatment.

Preservation of fertility in the case of cancer

Until a few years ago, there were almost no fertility-preserving options for women. Meanwhile — due to rapid progress in reproductive medicine — there are ways to fulfill the desire to have children despite cancer. Fortunately for women up to the age of 40 there are different options depending on the beginning and type of cancer treatment for the patient. For example, fertilized egg cells or removed ovarian tissue can be frozen and thus preserved. If the conditions are right, several fertility-preserving measures can even be carried out to increase the chance of having a child. In addition, supportive measures such as nutrition should also be taken into account.

Nutrition and Fertility

In general, cancer patients do not require a special diet. There are indications of unfavorable influences from nutrition, e.g. excessive consumption of refined sugar and fat, which can play a role in the development of cancer. However, there is no clear study on this yet. In principle, however, affected women should pay attention to their diet. For example, considering the following five points:

Pleasure & time — You should take enough time to eat in a comfortable atmosphere. Spices and flavors should also be experienced consciously.

Alcohol and Nicotine — Alcohol should be consumed in moderation at most. Nicotine should be avoided entirely.
Weight — Overweight and underweight should be avoided.
Serving Size — If you are of normal weight or tend to be overweight, you should eat 3 main meals with no snacks in between. If you are losing weight, snacking between meals can be useful.
Food pyramid — The food pyramid from the Federal Center for Nutrition offers a useful orientation.

Conclusion

The diagnosis »cancer« is always an extreme situation for those affected and their relatives. This leads to countless questions for those affected about prognosis, diagnostics, therapy and aftercare. There are also many questions on the usually taboo subject of wanting to have children with cancer, but too little time is often given to them in everyday clinical practice. In the meantime, there is experience on the subject of the desire to have children for almost all types of gynecological cancer. Nevertheless, the data situation is very limited, since the diseases are very rare and the cases are usually very complex. You need individual advice. Therefore, there is still a great need for research.