A 3-day scientific meeting, Parenthood after Cancer will take place March 5 to 7, 2004 at the UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The goal is to bring together basic scientists, clinicians, behavioral scientists, bioethicists, and patient advocates from both the infertility and oncology spheres to summarize the state of art in research on fertility and pregnancy after cancer, and health of offspring. The following topics will be addressed: psychosocial aspects of cancer survivors' experiences in trying to achieve parenthood after cancer; molecular models of the impact of cancer and its treatments on sperm autogenesis, ovarian function, and the developing embryo; current efforts to use hemoprotection of the gonads during cancer treatment; prospective human studies of fertility in men and women undergoing cancer treatment; modification of radiation therapy and surgery to spare fertility; cryopreservation of sperm, oocytes, embryos, and spermatogonia before cancer treatment and their use in subsequent fertility therapies; the safety of pregnancy for women treated for cancer; the health of children born to cancer survivors; the implications of inherited cancer syndromes for childbearing decisions; patient advocacy efforts to overcome barriers of knowledge, finance, and access to care; patient education needs; and opportunities for research funding at the National Institutes of Health in these areas. Three ethical debates will be presented, on posthumous reproduction, charging fees to cryopreserve ovarian tissue, and use of prenatal diagnostic testing for inherited cancer syndrome gene mutations. Legal issues related to reproduction and cancer will also be addressed. Attendees will be invited to submit abstracts for a peer-reviewed poster session. Time for social and professional interaction will be provided at breaks and lunches, the poster session, and a dinner. The proceedings will be published in a special issue of Monographs of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and summarized for patients/survivors on the website of the advocacy organization, Fer tile Hope. In the first quarter of 2005, a working group of about 20 experts will meet in Houston to prepare a report on research priorities in the areas covered by the conference. In the second quarter of 2005 a working group of around 20 will meet to draft a manuscript on proposed clinical guidelines on reproduction and cancer, for submission to a relevant, peer-reviewed journal.
