Analysis of sperm chromosome complements before, during, and after chemotherapy

Sperm chromosomal abnormalities were assessed in testicular cancer patients before, during, and after BEP (bleomycin, etoposide, cisplatin) chemotherapy (CT). Multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis was employed to detect aneuploidy for chromosomes 1, 12, X, and Y, and diploidy. Sperm samples were cryopreserved and coded before analysis to facilitate "blind" analysis. Complete results at all time points was available for only one patient. A total of 60,400 sperm were analyzed: 20,004 before CT, 20,005 during CT, and 20,391 after CT. There was a significant increase in the frequency of 24,XY sperm during (0.33%) and post-CT (0.34%) compared to pre-CT (0.14%). This study suggests that there may be a significantly increased risk of chromosomal abnormalities in sperm of CT patients during and immediately post-CT, similar to that shown in animal models.