Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr 25;22(1):450.
doi: 10.1186/s12885-022-09450-2.

Development of a questionnaire to evaluate female fertility care in pediatric oncology, a TREL initiative

M E Madeleine van der Perk #  1 , Eglė Stukaitė-Ruibienė #  2 , Žana Bumbulienė  2   3 , Goda Elizabeta Vaitkevičienė  2   4 , Annelies M E Bos  5 , Marry M van den Heuvel-Eibrink #  6 , Jelena Rascon #  2   4
Affiliations

Development of a questionnaire to evaluate female fertility care in pediatric oncology, a TREL initiative

M E Madeleine van der Perk et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: Currently the five-year survival of childhood cancer is up to 80% due to improved treatment modalities. However, the majority of childhood cancer survivors develop late effects including infertility. Survivors describe infertility as an important and life-altering late effect. Fertility preservation options are becoming available to pre- and postpubertal patients diagnosed with childhood cancer and fertility care is now an important aspect in cancer treatment. The use of fertility preservation options depends on the quality of counseling on this important and delicate issue. The aim of this manuscript is to present a questionnaire to determine the impact of fertility counseling in patients suffering from childhood cancer, to improve fertility care and evaluate what patients and their parents or guardians consider good fertility care.

Methods: Within the framework of the EU-Horizon 2020 TREL project, a fertility care evaluation questionnaire used in the Netherlands was made applicable for international multi-center use. The questionnaire to be used at least also in Lithuania, incorporates patients' views on fertility care to further improve the quality of fertility care and counseling. Results evaluate fertility care and will be used to improve current fertility care in a national specialized pediatric oncology center in the Netherlands and a pediatric oncology center in Lithuania.

Conclusion: An oncofertility-care-evaluation questionnaire has been developed for pediatric oncology patients and their families specifically. Results of this questionnaire may contribute to enhancement of fertility care in pediatric oncology in wider settings and thus improve quality of life of childhood cancer patients and survivors.

Keywords: Fertility care; Late effects; Pediatric cancer; Questionnaire; Reproductive health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Hudson MM, Link MP, Simone JV. Milestones in the curability of pediatric cancers. J Clin Oncol. 2014;32(23):2391–2397. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2014.55.6571. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ward E, DeSantis C, Robbins A, Kohler B, Jemal A. Childhood and adolescent cancer statistics, 2014. Ca-Cancer J Clin. 2014;64(2):83–103. doi: 10.3322/caac.21219. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bhakta N, Liu Q, Ness KK, Baassiri M, Eissa H, Yeo F, et al. The cumulative burden of surviving childhood cancer: an initial report from the St Jude lifetime cohort study (SJLIFE) Lancet. 2017;390(10112):2569–2582. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31610-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Geenen MM, Cardous-Ubbink MC, Kremer LCM, van den Bos C, van der Pal HJH, Heinen RC, et al. Medical assessment of adverse health outcomes in long-term survivors of childhood cancer. JAMA. 2007;297(24):2705–2715. doi: 10.1001/jama.297.24.2705. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mostoufi-Moab S, Seidel K, Leisenring WM, Armstrong GT, Oeffinger KC, Stovall M, et al. Endocrine abnormalities in aging survivors of childhood Cancer: a report from the childhood Cancer survivor study. J Clin Oncol. 2016;34(27):3240–3247. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2016.66.6545. - DOI - PMC - PubMed