Semen quality before cryopreservation and after thawing in 543 patients with testicular cancer

Abstract

ObjectiveThe main objective of this study was to assess semen characteristics of patients with testicular cancer before cryopreservation and after thawing, to evaluate the consequences of this technique on sperm quality in patients with testicular cancer.MethodsFive hundred eighty-nine samples from 543 patients with testicular cancer were cryopreserved between 1995 and 2015, one aliquot per patient was used for a thawing test to assess the impact of cryopreservation on sperm motility; semen analysis was performed before cryo preservation and after thawing, the result interpretation was carried out using the 2010 World Health Organization (WHO) Laboratory Manual, and consent forms were signed by the patients for freezing and when sperm was used for reproductive purposes.ResultsHypospermia was observed in 28.7% of samples, the median sperm concentration was 18 million/mL with 35% oligozoospermia; twenty-two patients (4.1%) had azoospermia and 12.7% had severe oligozoospermia, the median sperm count was 31.3 million and 261 semen samples (44.3%) were normal in all parameters according to the WHO; total motile sperm count before cryopreservation and after thawing was 12 (0-412.2) and 7 (0-303.9) million sperm, respectively (p < 0.00001, 95% CI 5.48-14.91), which represents a 32% reduction; concerning the utilization of cryopreserved semen samples, only twelve patients (2.2%) used their frozen sperm for reproductive purposes.ConclusionsAn impairment in semen quality was found in almost half of the samples from patients with testicular cancer, only few patients had azoospermia or severe oligozoospermia; sperm cryopreservation significantly reduces sperm motility and total motile sperm count and very few patients use their frozen sperm for reproductive purposes.

A quantitative global proteomics approach to understanding the functional pathways dysregulated in the spermatozoa of asthenozoospermic testicular cancer patients

“…Sperm motility is known as one of the vital parameters to assess male fertility and essential for natural conception. Patients with testicular cancer have been reported with subnormal sperm motility (asthenozoospermic) (Agarwal et al ., ; MacKenna et al ., ; Hamano et al ., ). These patients require ART procedures such as IUI or IVF to establish pregnancy.…”

“…Poor semen quality with reduced fertilization rates is well reported in testicular cancer patients (Hallak et al ., ; Gandini et al ., ; Ping et al ., ; Auger et al ., ). Sperm motility in these patients is reduced and below the WHO reference values of >40% (Djaladat et al ., ; Záková et al ., ; MacKenna et al ., ; Hamano et al ., ).…”

Sperm cryopreservation of transgender individuals: trends and findings in the past decade

“…Critser et al demonstrated apoptosis and motility loss in up to 50–75% of frozen-thawed spermatozoa (Critser et al , 1988). A more recent study has demonstrated a decrease in TMSC by 32% (Mackenna et al , 2017). Interestingly, the cryosensitivity of motility was significantly higher in the healthy transwomen specimens.…”

Genitourinary cancer patients have worse baseline semen parameters than healthy sperm bankers

“…While the spermatotoxic potential of cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy is well recognized, the effect of malignancy itself on male fertility prior to oncologic treatment is less clearly understood. It has been suggested that as many as two-thirds of cancer patients have impaired fertility at baseline (van Casteren et al, 2010), but studies have reported heterogeneous findings as to whether and how specific types of malignancy are linked to diminished semen parameters (Auger et al, 2016;Caponecchia et al, 2016;Paoli et al, 2016;DiNofia et al, 2017;MacKenna et al, 2017). This study investigated whether sperm bankers with various forms of malignancy demonstrated worse baseline semen parameters as compared to individuals with non-oncologic indications for banking.…”

“…It has been suggested that as many as two-thirds of cancer patients have impaired fertility at baseline (van Casteren et al, 2010), but studies have reported heterogeneous findings as to whether and how specific types of malignancy are linked to diminished semen parameters (Auger et al, 2016;Caponecchia et al, 2016;Paoli et al, 2016;DiNofia et al, 2017;MacKenna et al, 2017). It has been suggested that as many as two-thirds of cancer patients have impaired fertility at baseline (van Casteren et al, 2010), but studies have reported heterogeneous findings as to whether and how specific types of malignancy are linked to diminished semen parameters (Auger et al, 2016;Caponecchia et al, 2016;Paoli et al, 2016;DiNofia et al, 2017;MacKenna et al, 2017).…”