P –107 Does hematological cancer have the same impact on sperm quality as testicular cancer?

This study included 295 patients with testicular cancer (TEST) and 100 with hematological cancer (HEMAT). Patients that had already started chemo or radiotherapy (4 HEMAT and 12 TEST) were excluded, and 4 HEMAT and 15 TEST were azoospermic or cryptozoospermic (41.7% vs. 53,0%, p  = 0,792 ). The other parameters were analysed in 92 HEMAT and 268 TEST. The mean age of the HEMAT group was 28.2 years and 27.9 for the TEST group (p = 0,858). The TEST group had higher rates of oligozoospermia (50.7% vs 31.5%, p = 0.001) and of severe oligozoospermia (29.5% vs 15.2%, p  = 0.006) than the HEMAT group. Furthermore, 69.6% HEMAT had normal concentration, compared to 45.9% TEST (p <  0.001). The mean concentration of the HEMAT group was 35 mi/mL, normal according to the WHO’s standards, and the TEST group was 12 mi/mL, below the WHO’s normal standards (p <  0.001). No difference was found when comparing leukemia and lymphoma, or Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.Limitations, reasons for cautionBesides the fact that this study is retrospective, it also has a small sample size. Furthermore, no analyses regarding sperm morphology were made.Wider implications of the findings: In this study, testicular cancer had a negative impact on spermatogenesis and sperm quality, whereas hematological cancer did not. However, counseling regarding fertility preservation using sperm banking prior to chemo or radiotherapy should be reinforced in all young cancer patients...
Source: Human Reproduction - Category: Reproduction Medicine Source Type: research