CANCER AND MALE FACTOR INFERTILITY

With the increasing success of multimodality anticancer therapy, most men of reproductive age will survive their malignancy. Reproductive fu nction is a principal concern of these men, Health-care providers are shifting the focus of oncologic care toward improving the quality of l ife in cancer patients, particularly with regard to fertility, For unk nown reasons, fertility and sexual function are adversely affected in men with germ cell tumors and Hodgkin's disease prior to the initiatio n of therapy. Despite these pretreatment abnormalities, fertility pote ntial remains good, Cancer therapy utilizing physical and chemical tre atment methods can temporarily or permanently damage spermatogonia, re sulting in azoospermia and infertility, Recovery of spermatogenesis ca n take up to 10 years after therapy. Alternative treatment regimens ca n preserve reproductive function while maintaining high therapeutic ef ficacy, Surgical treatment should be directed toward maintaining the n eurovascular mechanisms responsible for seminal emission and ejaculati on. With new developments in assisted reproductive techniques, even ca ncer patients with severe oligoasthenospermia can father children. The se techniques have not been found to increase the incidence of major o r minor birth defects.