Inhibin B is superior to FSH as a serum marker for spermatogenesis in men treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma with chemotherapy during childhood

Abstract

The use of MOPP chemotherapy causes permanent gonadal damage in the far majority of male survivors of childhood Hodgkin's lymphoma and inhibin B is the most valuable serum marker for gonadal function.

Effect of childhood cancer treatment on fertility markers in adult male long‐term survivors

“…In addition, local radiotherapy to the testis was administered in five men who all showed extremely low Inhibin B levels. Although semen analyses were not available of these men, the previous published correlations between Inhibin B levels and sperm count indicates that these survivors probably have a severely impaired spermatogenesis [10,15].…”

“…Although several studies have shown the value of modern fertility markers for prediction of spermatogenesis, studies on gonadal function after chemotherapy and irradiation in large series of adult male cancer survivors, using Inhibin B as a novel serum markers are lacking [5,15,[20][21][22]. Therefore, we performed a study in a full single center cohort of male childhood cancer survivors (n ¼ 248).…”

“…The distribution by diagnosis is given in Table I. Of the Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) group, 22 included survivors have been described in a previous larger series [15]. In order to describe the complete cohort of survivors these patients were included in the study.…”

“…Therefore, reliable serum markers that reflect gonadal function in men may serve as a more convenient screening tool in determining reproductive function in male cancer survivors at least to start with. In recent studies, we and others have shown that Inhibin B is the best serum marker for spermatogenesis [10][11][12][13][14][15]. Inhibin B values after puberty depend on FSH secretion and are associated with sperm concentration and testicular volume not only in healthy individuals but also after chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy [16,17].…”

Fertility preservation techniques: laboratory and clinical progress and current issues

“…A central problem is the paucity of accurate information as to the degree of gonadotoxicity of chemotherapy regimens that develop and change rapidly. Our ability to assess the effects on gonadal function has been greatly enhanced by the development of new markers of the number of small follicles in women (i.e., anti Mü llerian hormone; Anderson et al 2006) and endocrine markers of spermatogenesis in men (i.e., inhibin B; van Beek et al 2007). It is hoped that the demonstration that ovarian tissue cryopreservation can be successful and of increased success rates with oocyte cryopreservation/vitrification (Gook & Edgar 2007) will encourage the collaborations needed between oncologists and reproductive specialists to investigate and develop these techniques further.…”