Poster Presentation 2025 Joint Meeting of the COSA ASM and IPOS Congress

Fertility preservation among men with oncohematological cancers in Poland – psycho-emotional correlates of decision-making, awareness, and unmet needs of patients (#547)

Marta Pawełczak-Szastok 1 , Kinga Bystrek 2 , Aleksandra Stefaniak-Żak 3 , Aleksandra Krzywon 4 , Anna Syska-Bielak 5 , Ryszard Swoboda 1 , Kazimierz Hałaburda 6 , Grzegorz Helbig 3 , Barbara Nasiłowska-Adamska 7 , Anna Kiżewska 8 , Jan Puchowski 8 9 , Agnieszka Piekarska 8 , Elwira Zakrzewska 10 , Renata Kwarcińska-Pytel 11 , Agata Wileczek-Malczak 12 , Natalia Dąbrowska 13 , Sebastian Giebel 1
  1. Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Oncohematology, M. Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology Gliwice Branch, Gliwice, Poland, Gliwice, Silesia, Poland
  2. Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine , Warsaw, Poland
  3. Department of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation , Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Silesia, Poland
  4. Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Maria Skłodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Gliwice, Silesia, Poland
  5. Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Breast Diseases, M. Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Gliwice, Silesia, Poland
  6. Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation, Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine , Warsaw, Poland
  7. Department of Hematology, Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine , Warsaw, Poland
  8. Department of Hematology and Transplantology, Medical University of Gdańsk, University Clinical Center, Gdańsk, Poland
  9. Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Gdańsk, University Clinical Center, Gdańsk, Poland
  10. Department of Hematology, Ludwik Rydygier Polyclinical Hospital, Toruń, Poland
  11. Hematology Clinic, University Clinical Hospital, Rzeszów, Poland
  12. Lower Silesian Center for Oncology, Pulmonology, and Hematology , Wrocław, Poland
  13. Department of Hematology and Internal Medicine with a Bone Marrow Transplantation Center, Hospital of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with Warmia and Mazury Oncology Center, Olsztyn, Poland

Every year in Poland, hematologic cancers are diagnosed in about 9,000 people. It is estimated that around 25% of patients with a hematologic cancer diagnosis are of reproductive age at the time of diagnosis. Treatments for oncohematological diseases often involve methods that can impair patients' fertility. In July 2024, Poland introduced reimbursement for fertility preservation procedures for cancer patients. The aim of this study was to gather data on the knowledge and opinions of male patients regarding oncofertility procedures, as well as to understand the psychological factors influencing their decisions to preserve or not preserve their fertility. The data were analyzed in the context of changes over time, especially considering the recent reimbursement introduced last year. The study involved 130 men aged 18-45 from Polish oncohematology treatment centers affiliated with the Polish Adult Leukemia Group. The participants completed a questionnaire designed for this research, which assessed their knowledge, sources of information, and opinions about oncofertility, along with a set of psychological tests describing their psychological functioning (personality traits, levels of anxiety and depression, stress coping strategies, acceptance, and perception of illness). The results revealed a concerningly low number of patients who had been informed about fertility preservation options—just over half of them. Medical staff more frequently inform patients under 30, often overlooking older patients, especially those who already have children at the start of treatment. Based on these findings, educational materials were developed to meet the patients' informational needs, and a proposed scheme for delivering these materials by healthcare professionals was created.