Testicular histology after prolonged treatment with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue

Bilateral orchiectomy was performed as secondary endocrine treatment in 12 patients with prostatic cancer who were treated initially with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue. Compared to a control group of prostatic cancer patients undergoing orchiectomy as primary therapy, the testes in the hormonally treated group showed marked spermatogenic suppression, peritubular membrane thickening and decreased numbers of Leydig cells. The degree of fibrosis and the damage seen in these testes imply that the spermatogenic suppression seen after prolonged gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue administration may not be as reversible as previously suggested.