Testicular Cancer Treatment Does Not Affect Most Men's Fertility, Study Says

Main Category: Fertility
Article Date: 06 Nov 2005 - 11:00 PDT

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About 76% of men treated for testicular cancer who attempt to father a child are able to do so, but success is strongly associated with the type of treatment received, according to a study published in the Nov. 2 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Toronto's Globe and Mail reports. Marianne Brydoy, a researcher at Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway, and colleagues examined 1,433 men living in Norway who were diagnosed with testicular cancer between 1980 and 1994 (Picard, Globe and Mail, 11/2). According to a follow-up survey conducted among the participants between 1998 and 2002, 554 attempted conception after receiving treatment for cancer. The researchers found that 71% of the men attempting conception were successful within 15 years of treatment without the use of frozen semen, and 76% were successful within 20 years. However, 48% of men who received high doses of chemotherapy fathered a child, compared with 92% of men who had the affected testicle removed (BBC News, 11/1). The researchers said the study should help physicians counsel "new or prior testicular cancer patients for whom fertility is a major concern," adding that sperm preservation should still be offered to all patients before undergoing testicular cancer therapy (Reuters Health, 11/1).

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