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Modern medicine is constantly evolving and developing new and improved ways to aid cancer patients.  One area where further development is needed is reproductive preservation, said Dr. Leslie A. Appiah, director of oncofertility at UK Healthcare.

“We do really well at treating cancer,” said Appiah. But medicine comes up short in treating the aftermath and the effects cancer leaves on patients, she said.  This is what led Appiah and UK health officials to develop the oncofertility program at UK.

Appiah defined oncofertility as “Providing medical therapy that allows people to have children after they receive medications that can harm their fertility.”  Oncofertility became a recognized discipline in medicine back in 2006, she said, which led to plans to develop a program here at UK.

Oncofertility is the preservation of the reproductive organs.  When someone is diagnosed with cancer or some sort of disease that requires chemotherapy or radiation therapy, this program allows them to cryogenically freeze the sperm for men, and the eggs, embryo and ovarian tissue for women, she said.

This preservation prevents the chemotherapy and radiation therapy from destroying the reproductive organs so that individuals can still safely have children once the treatment is over.

Treatment began back in February, and since then the program has seen four to five patients a month.  When the program becomes fully developed and clinics open, they hope to see 50-75 patients a month, Appiah said.

The counseling services provided to patients are usually covered by their insurance, but the actual treatment often is not, she said.  The program is currently performing more in depth research, which will decrease investigational treatment costs for patients.  Appiah says that research provides treatments that have shown success, but have not yet become the standard of care.

It typically costs $400 to process and freeze sperm, $5,000-7,500 for eggs and over $7,500 for embryo freezing.

Despite the fact that costs can be high for the individual, she said the program has actually yet to cost the university a dime.

“It has not cost UK anything to implement the program so far, as we have used existing personnel to date,” Appiah said.  “We will have to add a few key personnel to adequately care for the patient population which will have to be budgeted for within our department.”

Treatments like these often require daily visits, and since the closest oncofertility programs are in Cincinnati and Nashville, Appiah felt that bringing one to Lexington was crucial.

“It became important to address these quality of life issues,” said Appiah, who stressed that UK students could benefit from this program too, pointing out that it’s not uncommon for college-age students to be diagnosed with diseases such as leukemia and bone tumors.  She also stressed that students should never be afraid to seek help, and that it’s important to seek assistance as soon as possible.