Professor Anazodo has led the way in developing a model of care for oncofertility treatment and in changing Medicare to make fertility preservation available for all cancer patients, regardless of income. The impact of her work is far reaching for people living with and beyond cancer.
In 2018, Professor Anazodo won the Rising Star PhD candidate award at the Institute’s Premier’s Awards for Outstanding Cancer Research. In the same year, she also won the Improving government services award at the Premier’s Awards for Public Service.
What is the research?
Oncofertility covers fertility preservation, menstruation, hormonal management, sexual dysfunction and reproductive health screening for people with cancer.
“Fertility preservation is a rapidly advancing field and new strategies are continuously being developed and refined. Yet, it is often under implemented, due to limited models of care, a lack of trained staff to deliver services and a lack of good referral services between oncologists and fertility specialists.”
Developing a model of care for oncofertility
Professor Anazodo collaborated with interstate colleagues to better understand the reproductive concerns of cancer patients. This research confirmed that a decline in fertility had a major impact on quality of life and led to psychological distress for people with cancer. It also identified unmet needs in terms of support, information and access to oncofertility services. A systematic scoping review of current international practice and models of care for oncofertility identified the components of a successful oncofertility model of care – communication skills, referral pathways, training for cancer and fertility healthcare professionals and fertility-related psychosocial support.
Drawing on the systematic reviews, in 2022 the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Fertility Preservation Taskforce – co-chaired by Professor Anazodo and Professor Kate Stern – developed guidelines for fertility preservation for people with cancer. These guidelines provide critically appraised evidence on best practice in oncofertility care for health providers and highlight the importance of education and referral pathways to specialists to discuss oncofertility options.
Making oncofertility care accessible for everyone
“Another key barrier to oncofertility treatment is cost. And it’s leading to inequity in accessing fertility preservation,” she lamented.
Cancer patients frequently need financial assistance to make fertility preservation more affordable. Having found some patients would rather put their treatment on hold or use personal savings to access fertility preservation, Professor Anazodo led a national collaboration to make fertility preservation technology available for cancer patients, regardless of income.
This work led to the approval of new Medicare item numbers specifically for oncofertility support and others being considered.
“This equity of access is a significant achievement and changes the landscape for future cancer survivors”
The Cancer Institute NSW supported this practice-changing work through the Translational Cancer Research Centre Program. $100,000 was provided by the Kids Cancer Alliance and the Translational Cancer Research Network for a joint project led by Professor Anazodo on how to improve the oncofertility model of care.
Improving awareness of fertility preservation
To improve oncofertility practice on local, national and global levels, Professor Anazodo is on the board of the Practice Committee of The Oncofertility Consortium – an international, interdisciplinary initiative designed to explore the reproductive future of cancer survivors. She has also taken part in TV interviews, authored news articles and participated in a podcast about fertility preservation, recent advances, and the importance of early referral to fertility specialists after cancer diagnosis.
Her advocacy work also led to the creation of the Royal Hospital for Women's Fertility and Research Centre in NSW, Australia’s first dedicated oncofertility centre. It is the only fertility centre in a public hospital setting to combine comprehensive, low-cost fertility programs, IVF, clinical research and oncofertility services.
Next steps
Professor Anazodo’s work to develop and implement models of care for oncology patients will be applied to children and young adults with sarcoma. This is being undertaken as part of a 2022 $3.75 million Cancer Institute NSW Translational Program Grant. The program will address the quality of survivorship, of which fertility preservation is one of the most important issues.