Clinical guidelines for sperm cryopreservation in cancer patients

No clear clinical guidelines exist on how to counsel male cancer patients about fertility preservation. Detailed counseling is recommended before treatment when issues of collection and storage need to be highlighted. Concern about the quality of sperm collected before and/or after treatment in terms of assisted reproduction is needed, and the potential outcomes should be discussed early as part of cancer survivorship. The discussion should be sensitive and tailored to the ethical situation based on the age of the patient, the severity of the illness, the need to initiate treatment, and genetic risk. Cryopreservation should be attempted/achieved before cancer treatment is initiated. Cryopreservation should not be performed during treatment or for some time after treatment because of the chromosomal and structural damage to sperm from cancer treatment. Contraception should be instigated during this period.