Objectives: This study aims to examine practice patterns of gynecologic oncologists (GO) regarding fertility-sparing treatments (FST) for gynecology malignancies and explores attitudes toward collaboration with reproductive endocrinologists (RE).
Methods: An anonymous 23-question survey was sent to 1087 GO with a 14.0% completion rate. Descriptive statistics, Fisher's exact test, and Chi-square tests were used for data analysis.
Results: The majority of GOs offer FST for gynecologic malignancies. Providers seeing larger numbers of reproductive age women were more likely to consider cancer prognosis (p<0.03) and cancer stage (p<0.01) as key factors. Providers in the Midwestern US considered socioeconomic status more often when offering FST than those in the South (p<0.04). Those practicing in urban settings were more likely to feel that collaborating with a RE prior to treatment could improve treatment planning for women considering FST (p<0.02). Finally, providers in urban or suburban areas more often felt collaboration with a RE improves pregnancy outcomes in women who pursue FST (p<0.01, p<0.02) compared to rural practitioners.
Conclusions: While FST offers women the chance to pursue pregnancy after cancer, there are minimal data on factors that influence whether FST is offered and if collaboration with a RE is sought in the management of these patients. The number of reproductive age women seen, geographic location, and practice setting are important variables that may influence current practice. Understanding these factors can help identify opportunities to improve oncologic and reproductive outcomes of this patient population.
Keywords: Early gynecologic cancer; Fertility preservation; Fertility sparing treatment; Health care disparities; Practice patterns; Provider attitudes.
Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.