Journal
FERTILITY AND STERILITY
Volume 100, Issue 3, Pages 673-+Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2013.05.018
Keywords
Adverse effects; BEP chemotherapy; radiotherapy; spermatogenesis; sperm chromatin
Categories
Funding
- French Ministry of Health, PHRC [20030222]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objective: To determine the consequences of adjuvant testicular germ cell tumor treatment (TGCT) on sperm characteristics and sperm DNA, and to evaluate the predictors of sperm recovery. Design: Multicenter prospective longitudinal study of patients analyzed before treatment and after 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. Setting: University hospitals. Patient(s): One hundred twenty-nine volunteer TGCT patients and a control group of 257 fertile men. Intervention(s): Routine semen analyses, sperm DNA, and chromatin assessments. Main Outcome Measure(s): Comparisons of mean sperm characteristics before and after treatment, with sperm recovery analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method. Result(s): The quantitative and qualitative sperm characteristics decreased after treatment, with lowest values at 3 and 6 months and with variations according to treatment type. The mean total sperm count recovered to pretreatment values at 12 months after treatment after two or fewer bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP) cycles, but not after radiotherapy or more than two BEP cycles. Only the treatment modalities and pretreatment sperm production were related to recovery of the World Health Organization reference sperm values. An increased proportion of patients had elevated high sperm DNA stainability at 6 months after radiotherapy. Conclusion(s): Adjuvant treatments for testicular germ cell tumor have drastic effects on spermatogenesis and sperm chromatin quality. These new data on both the recovery period according to treatment modalities and the post-treatment chromatin status of sperm are useful tools for counseling patients wishing to conceive. ((C) 2013 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.)
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available