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Published on: November 19, 2019
An Assessment of Cryopreserved Semen and Testicular Tissue Collected Before and After Cancer Treatment Initiation
Marta Julia Fernández-González1, Anne-Catherine Radauer-Plank1, Anja Borgmann-Staudt1
1Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Cooperation member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, Berlin, Germany.
Purpose:
This retrospective cohort study assessed semen and testicular tissue quality from adult and adolescent cancer patients who had samples cryopreserved in the Cryobank of Charité-Universitätsmedizin before and/or after cancer treatment.
Methods And Materials:
Medical and cryopreservation data for all samples stored between 03/2004 and 05/2019 were collected retrospectively.
Results:
We included information on 601 samples cryopreserved from 506 cancer patients for whom oncologic treatment data were available. The majority of the samples were cryopreserved prior to cancer treatment (460/600, 77%, median 5 days before treatment). Semen quality had a predisposed reduction in those collected from adolescents with testicular and/or hematological malignancies. Analyses of the 140 (23%) samples cryopreserved after treatment initiation (median of 84 days) revealed decreased median concentration and motility following high gonadotoxic-risk treatment. Rate of oligoasthenozoospermia was comparable in samples collected prior to treatment with those provided during follow-up spermiograms within 1 year after treatment initiation (45.5% vs 45.5%). However, an increase was seen in samples collected 1-2 (9.1% to 90.9%) and 2-3 (50.0% to 100.0%) years after treatment initiation.
Conclusion:
Cancer diagnosis and treatment may impair spermatogenesis; therefore, patient counseling prior to cancer treatment by an oncologist and/or fertility specialist is crucial.
