With studies suggesting that between 40% and 80% of adult female cancer patients are at risk of becoming infertile and between 30% of male cancer patients may become sterile after treatment for cancer, increased survivorship means that the preservation of fertility is becoming an increasingly important topic for patients [Knapp, Caprice A., Gwendolyn P. Quinn, and Devin Murphy. “Assessing the reproductive concerns of children and adolescents with cancer: challenges and potential solutions.]. It’s also been suggested that fertility impairment might be considered one of the most life-altering late effects of cancer treatment, affecting the survivors’ body image, sexuality, dating relationships, marriage patterns and sense of wellbeing [Levine, Jennifer M., et al. “Fertility and Sexuality.” Paediatric Psycho-Oncology: A Quick Reference on the Psychosocial Dimensions of Cancer Symptom Management (2015).].
However, despite Europe’s ageing population and an increasing consideration for European citizens’ right to build a family, awareness of this issue remains low and discussions linking fertility and cancer are not highly placed on the European Union’s political agenda. Considering the growing momentum in the field of cancer, we wonder why Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan does not reference fertility issues even once.
Following the objectives set out in our White Paper published in 2018, Youth Cancer Europe’s advocacy project focuses on building support & impacting policies through a EU Presidency contact programme, including meetings with the Permanent Representations and specific Members of the European Parliament as well as monitoring on-going legislative files and Council Conclusions/Parliamentary Actions.
After the publishing of the European Commission’s Beating Cancer Plan, we spoke up at the European Parliament’s BECA committee hearing. As a direct result, the Report on strengthening Europe in the fight against cancer – towards a comprehensive and coordinated strategy (2020/2267(INI)) adopted in February 2022 by the European Parliament, for the first time, addressed topics that were completely ignored by the Beating Cancer Plan, such as fertility. In it, the European Parliament “calls on the Commission and the Member States to plan actions that promote, in the context of care and treatment, greater attention to the protection of patients’ fertility, in particular in the case of paediatric and juvenile cancers” & “strongly urges the Member States to ensure that all cancer patients are fully informed about the possibility of fertility preservation procedures prior to the start of active treatment; calls for the development of guidelines at EU level for health professionals, defining the age at which cancer patients should be informed about the availability of reproductive health procedures; encourages, furthermore, the Member States to make provision for all cancer patients covered by compulsory national health insurance to be reimbursed for such services by national health insurance schemes”
Youth Cancer Europe is also participating in three distinct thematic Stakeholder Contact Groups facilitated by the European Commission on Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan:
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- “Childhood Cancer” thematic group
- “Quality of Life” thematic group
- “Reducing inequalities” thematic group
In these contact groups YCE provides input to the Commission on the implementation of the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the Horizon Europe Cancer Mission in areas under the remit of the thematic group. These groups will work in synergy with other already existing Commission stakeholder groups and consultation mechanisms.
Our research activities include evidence and gap mapping to assess currently accessible fertility presentation and fertility treatment options and costs across Europe, as well as an online survey and qualitative study to understand the lived experience of young adults with cancer regarding fertility preservation and fertility assistance and cancer survivors’ attitudes on building a family.
In 2022 YCE launched a Survey on Awareness and Accessibility to Fertility Preservation Procedures in Europe, to better understand young people’s awareness on fertility preservation and its relationship to quality of life and mental health. The respondents were over 600 cancer patients and survivors, aged 15 to 39 at diagnosis, recruited across a wide European region.
The study reveals that about 28 % cancer patients did not discuss medical options for fertility preservation with their healthcare provider, with the Eastern European Countries reporting the lowest rates of involvement in fertility discussions. Furthermore, respondents who were not informed about available fertility services reported the lowest quality of life, fertility-related concerns greatly impacting their level of anxiety and depression.
Based on our findings we can conclude the following:
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- within Europe, there are significant cancer-related fertility inequalities between countries and healthcare systems;
- accessible fertility preservation programs should become an integral part of cancer rehabilitation for young people and they should be actively included in the development of any novel guidelines;
- young people’s mental health and quality of life may be compromised by fertility-related distress and should be monitored throughout the cancer continuum.
Read more about the online survey methodology here.
As part of Youth Cancer Europe’s advocacy work, we joined the world’s largest international community of cancer experts at the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) World Cancer Congress (WCC 2022) in Geneva, where YCE was invited to host a round table. In the session we discussed findings and clinical implications from the results of a pan-European survey of young people and presented novel evidence on FP access and awareness. Using a holistic and cross-sectoral approach, together with a group of experts, the session provided pragmatic, evidence-based, acceptable and scalable solutions to reduce cancer-related fertility inequalities among young people. Round table panellists included Dr. Richard Anderson Professor of Clinical Reproductive Science, University of Edinburgh; Max Williamson medical student at University of Oxford, BSc in Biomedical Sciences at UCL, patient advocate and representative for the NCRI Teenage and Young Adult/ Germ Cell Tumour Research Group; Katie Rizvi founder of Youth Cancer Europe; Dr Anja Borgmann-Staudt professor and medical doctor. The session was chaired by Dr Urška Košir, scientific advisor and advocate with Youth Cancer Europe, lecturer at the University of Oxford.
YCE’s recorded session for the WCC 2022 can be watched in full above. 👆
Next up, in November, YCE’s Urška Košir will represent us at the ECO Summit 2022 in Brussels, speaking on fertility preservation and quality of life among adolescent and young adult cancer patients across Europe.
Fertility impairment prevention, fertility preservation and fertility treatment (including assisted reproduction) continue to be very high on YCE’s agenda and are topics YCE represents in many European and international networks and consortiums, such as ENTYAC and EU-funded projects StrongAYA and EU-CAYAS-NET
This project would not be possible without the generous support of YCE’s sponsors:
