Semen quality after treatment for testicular cancer

During the last 14 years repeated sperm cell analyses and serum hormone analysis were done regularly in patients with testicular cancer before and after treatment. The summarized results are hereby reported. The sperm cell count was highly impaired in 60-70% of testicular cancer patients evaluated 1-4 weeks after unilateral orchidectomy before further treatment. However, improvement of the exocrine gonadal function was regularly observed during the following 2-3 years, provided there were normal or only slightly elevated pre-treatment FSH levels. Standard irradiation and cytotoxic treatment (abdominal radiotherapy 30-40 Gy; < or = 4 cycles of cisplatin-based chemotherapy) delayed this recovery by about one year. Higher doses of chemotherapy or combined irradiation/chemotherapy reduced the chances of rapid improvement of the exocrine gonadal function. Unilateral retroperitoneal lymph node dissection resulted in a slight reduction of the post-treatment ejaculatory volume, even in patients with preserved antegrade ejaculation.