Sperm Banking Among Adolescents Newly Diagnosed With Cancer: Development of a Profiling and Referral Tool

Despite the known adverse effects of specific cancer treatments on fertility, only 18-26% of at-risk adolescents and young men cryopreserve sperm prior to cancer treatment in the US: These already less than optimal rates of sperm banking are even lower among adolescents who have increased anxiety at cancer diagnosis, are lower in age and socioeconomic status, of Evangelical religious orientation, or are diagnosed with leukemia/lymphoma: It is not clear why sperm banking is underutilized, particularly in light of the high priority that survivors of childhood cancer place on fertility and the high psychological distress associated with fertility loss. Studies addressing sperm banking among adults with cancer suggest that factors such as poor physician communication and the resulting lack of fertility-risk knowledge by patients contributes to the low frequency of sperm cryopreservation. No well-designed studies have examined risk factors associated with failure to bank sperm among adolescents with cancer, a developmentally distinct population ripe for intervention. This study plans to enroll 206 adolescent males and 412 parents/guardians.