Blood cancer therapies can result in infertility in the person. Your mind might be focused on treating cancer, and not at all think about fertility. A study has proved that youngsters who have got cancer, will also be infertile.
Why Do Cancer Patients Have Infertility?
Cancer-related infertility can be temporary or permanent. Infertility due to cancer can either be permanent or temporary. The ability to conceive depends upon:
- The disease itself
- Side effects of treatment
- Kind of therapy used
- Age
- Any other issue which you may be suffering from
Many people think that conception could put pressure on women’s body, hence will be unable to go through cancer treatment.
Does Blood Cancer Affect Fertility? If Yes, Then How?
Many leukemia along with lymphomas are found in many youngsters who are of reproductive age. Many people are seen suffering from cancer when they have not even planned to have a baby.
Talking about blood cancer, infertility is not caused by disease, but through tit’s treatment.
One special case is Hodgkin lymphoma, which causes low sperm count in males, leading to male infertility.
Effect Of Chemotherapy On Fertility
Getting treated for chemotherapy can affect both males and females. But all medicines are not found to have the same type of effect
In men chemotherapy causes sperms to vanish in semen.
While in women it causes an inability of ovaries to release an egg cell.
In both partners ( men and women) some medicines which are likely to affect fertility are Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide), Ifex or Mitoxana, Alkeran, Myleran or Busulfex and Matulane
Does Radiation Therapy Have An Impact On Fertility?
The doses in which Radiation therapy is given is in very small amounts. It is given over a long period of time to minimize the side effects and effects of drugs. Given it in smaller doses is said to cause more damage than giving the medicine in one large go.
Whenever the doses are administered the radiation can severely lower down the sperm count. The effect can either be temporary or permanent, it depends upon the dosage of medicine. Radiation is also possible for lowering the testosterone levels.
While in women, the ovaries may be in the radiation field. If this is the case then the surgeon will have to surgically transfer the ovary to some other part, so that the effect of radiation is least felt.
Fertility Protection
it is very important that you know your options well before taking up infertility treatment. Some options which are available are :
- Getting the eggs or sperm frozen
- Getting embryos frozen
- Taking aid of donor eggs, sperms or embryos
- Surrogacy
- Adoption
Male Infertility
Nowadays the methods and techniques for freezing sperms are highly successful, opposed to earlier days.
An alternative which are for men include:
- Sperm Banking- By this, the sperm is frozen for using on alter on the basis.
- Sperm Extraction– Sperm may be taken out directly from the testicle if sperm in semen is not found to be mature.
- Testicular Tissue Freezing -This is a new method to which scientists are eagerly waiting and they wish to remove a testicle for freezing after which again implanting in the future.
