CYTOGENETIC DAMAGE MEASURED IN HUMAN SPERM FOLLOWING CANCER-CHEMOTHERAPY

Germ-line cytogenetic damage is well documented in laboratory animals exposed to anti-cancer agents, but has been harder to verify in the hu man. This paper reviews published studies demonstrating cytogenetic da mage in human sperm following exposure to anti-cancer chemicals, as me asured by the human-sperm/hamster-egg cytogenetic technique and fluore scence in situ hybridization. These two assays have provided important information on one step in the pathway leading to induced, transmissi ble germ line damage in the human. By way of introduction, a short rev iew of the traditional human endpoints used to address the question of induced, transmissible genetic damage in human germ cells (mutation e pidemiology) related to anti-cancer chemicals is presented.