iPhone app educates physicians on preserving fertility

A new iPhone application, launched June 2 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago, is designed to give physicians a quick reference guide for preserving the fertility of children, women, and men diagnosed with cancer.

The information for physicians and patients contained in the app is also available on the new micro-Web site www.savemyfertility.org.

The app and Web site were created by the Oncofertility Consortium of Northwestern University, Chicago, a national group of physicians and scientists dedicated to saving the fertility of cancer patients through research and education.

"Deciding how to best protect an adult’s or child’s fertility should be part of every physician’s discussion with a newly diagnosed cancer patient," said Theresa Woodruff, PhD, the consortium’s director and founder. "We created the app and SaveMyFertility to help patients and their physicians have this vitally important discussion and make much more informed decisions about fertility preservation.

"Oncologists are the gatekeepers to fertility preservation," she added. "Now a physician can quickly access this information when he or she is with a cancer patient. And it also allows a doctor to e-mail a fact sheet in English or Spanish to a patient."