Irene Su Receives Award for a Novel Study on Fertility Preservation for Young Cancer Patients
The grant from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society will fund research on the affordability and utilization of fertility preservation with health insurance for adolescent young adults with blood cancers.
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When a devastating diagnosis of cancer is given to young patients, they must consider fertility preservation, a ray of hope amidst the imminent battery of cancer treatments, in a short time frame.
H. Irene Su, M.D., professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, has been awarded a new three-year grant totaling $750,000 from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Equity in Access Research Program to support her novel project, “Impact of state health insurance mandates on affordability and utilization of fertility preservation in adolescent and young adults with blood cancers.” Su, a reproductive endocrinology and infertility clinician at UC San Diego Health and co-director of the Center for OB/GYN Research and Innovation, is dedicated to helping children, adolescents, young adults and their families navigate the myriad challenges associated with fertility preservation after a cancer diagnosis.
“This is an important study with substantial policy and practice implications, and we are thrilled to be giving Dr. Su this award, “said Eric Cooks, Ph.D., senior director at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Equity in Access Research Program.
Infertility after cancer can be reduced through egg, embryo, sperm and ovarian tissue freezing prior to treatment. For patients who want to preserve family building options, they often then navigate a formidable maze of tunnels and wayward obstacles to access health insurance coverage. Equitable access to these pre-cancer treatment services is an alarming health disparity due to unaffordability and lack of access.
H. Irene Su, M.D.
"Our research suggests that fertility preservation mandates are not working as intended because of how the laws are written and how they are implemented by state insurance regulators, insurers, and clinics before they reach patients," explained Su.
With over 15 years in oncofertility research, policy, implementation science, and clinical care, Su’s study results aim to advance goals of the Equity in Access Research Program to close gaps and increase access to affordable care. Using the Health Care Cost Institute’s data, the project will demonstrate cost-sharing burdens on young cancer patients and the extent to which current state laws that mandate insurance coverage are impacting affordability and utilization.
Su hopes that policymakers, insurers, advocates and clinicians will use the results to shape future legislation, rules and best practices for insurers, and counseling patients on expected costs.
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