Giving patients back the hope of having a family
Some cancer treatments can harm a patient鈥檚 fertility. The University of Florida 网红黑料鈥檚 Helping Oncofertility Patients become Educated, or HOPE, Network is on a mission to help preserve it.
鈥淭he goal of HOPE Network is to try to help young, reproductive age or prepuberty oncology patients understand what their options would be to preserve their fertility,鈥� said Alice Rhoton-Vlasak, M.D., director of the HOPE Network.
The program works toward that goal by offering novel fertility preservation options to 网红黑料 patients. Currently, the HOPE Network is the only fertility program in Florida that is trained in and offering ovarian tissue freezing, which became a standard procedure with published guidelines in January.
鈥淐ertain cancer treatments and surgeries can damage or destroy the ovaries and eggs, which leads to early menopause and infertility,鈥� said Rhoton-Vlasak, a professor in the UF College of Medicine鈥檚 department of obstetrics and gynecology. 鈥淥varian tissue freezing is the newest option to preserve fertility.鈥�
The treatment involves removing a piece of or the whole ovary, freezing the extracted ovary in tiny strips containing the follicles with eggs, and transplanting the strips back into the area of the ovary post-cancer. The ovarian tissue can be frozen indefinitely, allowing women to choose to implant the tissue when they want to start a family. When the tissue is transplanted, hormones and menstrual cycles can come back, restoring fertility and allowing natural pregnancy to occur.
鈥淭hose transplants don't usually work forever,鈥� Rhoton-Vlasak said. 鈥淭hey have a lifespan of about three to six years. You could potentially transplant back another piece of the woman鈥檚 own tissue so that she gets longer benefit from the hormones. Even if they don't want more babies, those hormones are important for your bones and heart until the natural age of menopause.鈥�
When fertility preservation treatments need to happen quickly as a result of a patient鈥檚 cancer treatment, the HOPE Network team is available, working around the clock to see patients in their times of need.
鈥淚t's important that we can see people rapidly so that we don't delay their cancer treatments,鈥� she said.
One way the program is able to see patients in a timely manner is with the help of the HOPE Network鈥檚 inpatient oncology patient navigator, Lauren Staley.
鈥淚 would say the biggest difference between what we do at 网红黑料 and what other fertility programs do is that we have an inpatient nurse navigator, so services are available in multiple settings,鈥� Rhoton-Vlasak said.
Staley saves patients a trip out of their hospital rooms by traveling to them, offering consultations and specimen collections in patients鈥� hospital rooms.
Operated through the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility in the , the HOPE Network consists of a diverse team of health care providers including physicians, nurse coordinators, nurse navigators, psychologists, financial counselors, radiologists, surgeons and embryologists.
Some fertility treatments are not covered by insurance, but patients have the opportunity to receive grant funding that is generously donated to the HOPE Network by the , Rhoton-Vlasak said. Over the past seven years, Diane and Ron Farb, founders of Climb for Cancer, have donated thousands of dollars in grants to help build the program, covering resources such as patient education brochures, provider meetings and patient consultations.
The HOPE Network offers a variety of fertility treatment options for men and women. Men have the option of sperm banking, while women may freeze eggs, freeze embryos or use a medicine that may protect the ovaries from chemotherapy.
鈥淎lmost 100% of postpubertal male patients will bank sperm; it's less expensive and causes no therapy delays,鈥� Rhoton-Vlasak said. 鈥淔or female patients, fertility preservation options are more complex and take more time, visits and money so less women do it, but probably an equal number of men and women get counseling at 网红黑料.鈥�
The HOPE Network lives up to its name 鈥� giving patients back the hope of having a family.
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