Challenging cases in oncofertility: insights from a national specialized e-meeting for fertility preservation specialists

PURPOSE: To determine the use of a new specialized E-Meeting for Complex Cases in Oncofertility by fertility preservation specialists (FPSs) MATERIAL AND METHODS: We present 3 years of activity of the E-Meeting for Complex Cases in Oncofertility, a new tool created in September 2016 which allows national oncofertility experts to share viewpoints about challenging cases for which they do not have experience or sufficient data in order to provide them an emergency advice within 48 h. Second, a survey was conducted to evaluate the use of this e-meeting for participating FPSs. RESULTS: One hundred and four experts have joined the e-meeting since its set-up, and 109 challenging cases have been submitted. The mean age of the patients was 22.4 ± 8.9 years, and 87.0% were female. Each submitted case received on average of 1.8 ± 1.1 different strategies for FP and the opinions of 7.1 ± 3.4 experts. Among the FPSs who submitted cases, seeking opinions from other FPSs allowed them to confirm their care plan (N = 49, 84.4%), to offer different options to their patients (N = 34, 58.6%), and to compare their practices with those of other specialists (N = 23, 39.6%). All respondents reported a self-perceived improvement in their practice of oncologic FP (n = 80, 100.0%). CONCLUSION: Specific attention should be paid to challenging cases for which the experiences of only a few individuals exist. Enhancing communication between FPSs through oncofertility networks, pooling experiences, and collecting the most complex cases is required to improve the management of these patients. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10815-021-02275-1.