Cancer patients face fertility battle

FERTILITY issues can present survivors of cancer with some of the biggest challenges in overcoming the disease, a conference in Dublin heard yesterday.

Dr Allan Pacey, a senior lecturer in reproductive and developmental medicine at the University of Sheffield, highlighted how infertility is one of the main long-term effects of cancer treatment.

Both chemotherapy and radiotherapy can reduce or damage the sperm-producing cells of the testicles, meaning that fewer sperm are made once cancer treatment has finished. Similarly, such treatments can reduce the number of eggs in the ovaries of female cancer sufferers as well as reducing the ability of the womb to support a pregnancy.