What are the potential symptoms of female infertility?
- Irregular menstrual cycles or menstrual cycles without ovulation
- Hot flashes or night sweats
- Pain during sex
- Inability to become pregnant
- Several miscarriages
Female cancer survivors often stop menstruating during treatment. This does not translate to infertility. Menstruation should return within six months after treatment completion. If menstruation does not return within one year, contact your doctor. It may not be related to fertility, but another physical problem.
Some survivors become pregnant, but cannot carry a baby to full term. Again, this may not be due to cancer treatment.
Tests are necessary for women experiencing premature or immediate menopause. Infertility can happen after menopause from damage to eggs from treatments. The Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) measurement is one test used to see if women are in menopause. If FSH levels are high, donor eggs may be necessary for pregnancy.
The ovarian tubes and uterus can be checked to determine whether there is damage to these organs that might cause infertility. Damage to ovaries occurs from pelvic or abdominal surgery for cancer.
CISN Tips:
Be sure to discuss this topic with your doctor. Today there are several strategies you might use:
- Protect your ovaries so that you may not have to face infertility problems
- You may be able to bank eggs that can be used in the future
Fertility Issues For Men
For men, infertility means not being able to produce healthy sperm or to ejaculate sperm.
What cancers in men have the highest risk for infertility?
- Survivors of testicular cancer
Fertility may be poor in the two years before testicular cancer is found. Although only 1 to 3 percent of men with testicular cancer get cancer in both testicles, the cancer-free testicle often is not totally normal.
- Men newly-diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, lymphoma or leukemia
The recent surgery, fever or physical stress these survivors can experience can often affect their semen quality.
What treatments increase infertility risk for male cancer survivors?
- Radiation
- May slow down or stop sperm cell production
- Total body irradiation causes permanent infertility
- Radiation to the part of the brain that controls hormone production can sometimes prevent the hormone messages from reaching the testicles
- Chemotherapy
- Please visit the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s website for more information about chemotherapy agents impacting fertility.
- Surgeries
- Radical surgeries for prostate or bladder cancer removes glands involved in semen production and cut the pathways for sperm cells to be included in semen
What are the symptoms of male infertility?
Men usually do not have any symptoms of infertility unless they have dry orgasms. Most men do not realize that they are infertile until they have a semen analysis and discover that their semen quality is low. Please visit the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s website for more information about these tests.
CISN Tips:
Discuss sperm banking with your doctor prior to undergoing cancer treatment.
The following organizations have more information on fertility.
