Discussing fertility preservation with breast cancer patients

Abstract

Approximately 180,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Of these patients, over 16,000 are younger than age 45 [1]. Receiving a diagnosis of breast cancer is difficult regardless of the patient's age. Simultaneously, the impact of this diagnosis for younger premenopausal patients may be particularly traumatic as the implications of the diagnosis may have an added morbidity of fertility loss. Navigating the issue of fertility in the midst of a new cancer diagnosis is complex for both the patient and the physician. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.