A. Agarwal et al., VALUE OF CLINICAL-DIAGNOSIS IN PREDICTING THE QUALITY OF CRYOPRESERVED SPERM FROM CANCER-PATIENTS, The Journal of urology, 155(3), 1996, pp. 934-938
Purpose: Cryopreservation of semen from patients with malignant diseas
es (primarily testicular cancer, Hodgkin's disease and lymphoma) befor
e specific chemotherapy, radiation or surgical therapy has become a re
alistic option to preserve fertility. Nevertheless, the post-thaw sper
m quality in these patients is poor. Whether the clinical diagnosis of
malignancy affects the cryopreservation of human sperm is unknown. Su
ch an association could allow post-thaw sperm quality to be predicted.
Materials and Methods: We compared the effect of cryopreservation on
sperm motility, velocity, linearity, amplitude of lateral head movemen
t, motility index and motile sperm count in specimens from 30 normal m
en, 34 with testicular cancer, 39 with Hodgkin's disease, and 19 with
leukemia and lymphoma who were referred for sperm banking during a 5-y
ear period. Results: The pre-freeze and post-thaw motility, motility i
ndex and motile sperm count were significantly lower in all patients t
han in normal men (p <0.01). No significant differences were noted amo
ng the patient groups. Similarly, no significant differences were note
d after cryopreservation. Our results indicate that the poor pre-freez
e sperm quality in some patients with malignancies explains the poor p
ost-thaw results. However, the deterioration in sperm function after c
ryopreservation of semen among patients with different malignancies an
d normal donors appears to be similar. Conclusions: Clinical diagnosis
of malignancy is not an adequate predictor of the effect of cryoprese
rvation on human semen.