Oncofertility: a grand collaboration between reproductive medicine and oncology

Abstract

In 2007, I was asked by the University of Calgary to participate in a symposium called ‘Pushing the Boundaries – Advances that Will Change the World in 20 Years’. My topic was oncofertility, a word I had just coined to describe the intersection of two disciplines – oncology and fertility – and I was thrilled to share my passion for this new field and help young women with cancer protect their future reproductive health. Fertility preservation in the cancer setting lacked a concerted effort to bridge the disciplines in an organized manner. In early 2015, I was delighted to deliver a presentation for the Society for Reproduction and Fertility titled ‘Sex in Three Cities’, where I gave an update on the oncofertility movement, a remarkable cross-disciplinary, global collaboration created to address the fertility preservation needs of young cancer patients. During my tour of the UK, I was impressed by the interest among the society and its members to engage colleagues outside the discipline as well as the public in a dialogue about cutting-edge reproductive science. In this invited review, I will describe the work of the Oncofertility Consortium to provide fertility preservation options in the cancer setting and accelerate the acceptance of this critical topic on a global scale. I hope that one day this word and field it created will change the world for women who had been left out of the equation for far too long.