Impact Of Breast Cancer Treatment To Fertility

Based on statistics released by breastcancer.org, about 1 in 8 women in the United States will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. This is a very troubling figure because it means 27 percent of the population. Many women diagnosed with breast cancer fear the different treatments that they will need to undergo and its impact on their fertility.

According to fertility experts, as with most types of cancer, treatment for breast cancer will have a negative impact on the woman’s fertility. Some of the side effects are temporary, but others are permanent. The degree of the impact will rely on the type of treatment and dosage that the woman will receive and the age of the patient.

Chemotherapy used to treat cancer is very effective in killing breast cancer tumors. This treatment not only destroys the cancer cells in the body, it can also damage the woman’s fertility because it also affects the healthy cells. Moreover, breast cancer treatment can cause premature menopause in some women. On the other hand, this does not instantly occur after completing chemotherapy.

Due to the advancement of science and technology, fertility doctors came up with an effective way to preserve a woman’s fertility. It is important that these options to be discussed with a person diagnosed with breast cancer prior to receiving treatment so that the patient will have options if ever she is considering getting pregnant in the future.