5,000 young breast cancer patients 'miss out on fertility care' in UK every year

The majority of young breast
cancer patients are not being referred for treatment which could preserve
their fertility after chemotherapy, says a UK charity.

Most women will survive breast cancer but chemotherapy can damage
the ovaries and even bring on early menopause.

The charity Breast
Cancer Care spoke to 50 breast cancer specialist doctors and 176 women who
had been diagnosed with breast cancer before they were 45 years old. Seventeen of the specialists
said they did not discuss fertility with patients at diagnosis. Eighty-eight
percent of the women surveyed said they were not referred for
fertility care.

Extrapolating this statistic Breast Cancer Care estimates that
5,000 patients across the UK miss out on the necessary referral every year.

Samia al Qadhi, the charity's chief executive, said the situation is 'unacceptable'.

'There are two clear reasons for this: many healthcare
professionals are not discussing fertility options and clear referral systems
are not in place. We urgently need all healthcare professionals to talk to
women about their fertility options at the point of diagnosis.'

Grete Brauten-Smith, a specialist nurse working with Breast
Cancer Care, added: 'A consultation with a fertility expert might not mean a
guaranteed pregnancy but we must ensure women have the chance of considering
their options.'

The charity also found that three-fifths of female members
of the public were unaware of the possible effects of breast cancer treatment
on fertility.

Patient Jackie Scully - who was offered fertility
counselling - was interviewed for the survey and said that she 'looked at
fertility preservation as a way of taking some of the control back from the cancer,
and it is really reassuring to know we have seven frozen embryos'.

Juliet Tizzard, interim director of strategy for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology
Authority, told The Guardian that making a fertility referral following a breast cancer diagnosis was seen
as medical best practice. 'We do patients a disservice if we do not do this, and
we urge any clinician who does not routinely refer all cancer patients who wish
to freeze their eggs to do so as a matter of course,' she said.