26-Year-Old Woman Who Thought Chemo Made Her Infertile Gives Birth to Healthy Baby; What to Know About Chemo & Fertility

Gray’s earliest lymphoma symptoms first presented as chest pains and night sweats. When she sought medical attention, medics discovered a mass on her chest.

Gray underwent both chemotherapy and radiation, which shrunk her tumor. But her cancer became more aggressive and continued to progress. She underwent CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor T-cell) cell therapy for treatment. CAR-T cell therapy is effective for treating cancer by re-programming the body’s immune system cells to fight cancer.

After undergoing cancer treatment, Gray and her partner decided they wanted to expand their family. They began IVF treatments, due to Gray having undergone chemotherapy. But then, the couple was able to conceive naturally, despite the treatments she endured for her blood cancer.

The most common types of blood cancers include Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society reports that every 3 minutes, one person in the U.S. is diagnosed with a blood cancer.  This year alone, approximately 186,400 people will be diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma.

Some people may have an elevated risk of developing for blood cancers like lymphoma. Here are some reasons which may put you in a higher risk category for lymphoma:

• You have been infected with the HIV or Epstein-Barr virus
• You have had an organ transplant
• You have a family history of lymphoma
• You have been treated with radiation or chemotherapy drugs for cancer in the past
• You have an autoimmune disease
• Speak with your doctor about your family's cancer history, if any, and ways you can stay on top of your screenings and limit risk factors for all cancers

Finding Lymphoma Early, Do You Know the Risks?

Fertility & Cancer Treatments

For people who want to have a family and are diagnosed with cancer, speak with your oncologist about ways to preserve your fertility prior to cancer treatment. People diagnosed with cervical cancer, testicular cancer, and related reproductive cancers can go on to have healthy families, thanks to modern fertility treatments like egg freezing, sperm freezing, and IVF.

In an earlier interview, Dr. Michael Ulm, a Gynecologic Oncologist at West Cancer Center, discusses with SurvivorNet the fertility-related discussions he has with patients facing ovarian cancer. Dr. Ulm says, “In general, when I have patients who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, one of the things I do talk to them about is their desire for future fertility because, obviously, that’s a big quality of life issue.”

“And a lot of it depends on the stage of their cancer and the type of their cancer,” he explains. “Certainly, patients with Stage 1A ovarian cancer, which is where it’s just confined to the ovary, they’re candidates for what’s called fertility-sparing staging, where we try to leave the other ovary and tube. We try to leave the uterus and cervix, and our goal is normally to debulk the disease and stage the ovarian cancer in a way that spares the remaining tube and ovaries, as well as the uterus and cervix.”

Preserving Your Fertility Before Ovarian Cancer Treatment

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