Effects of cancer on spermatozoa quality after cryopreservation: A 12-year experience

Objective: To determine whether type of cancer and response to treatment was related to prefreeze or post-thaw semen quality and to predict post-thaw sperm motility from prefreeze motility. Design: Retrospective study. Setting: Tertiary care institution. Patient(s): One hundred six cancer patients cryopreserving their semen specimens. Intervention(s): Computer-assisted semen analysis was performed before and after cryopreservation on each patient specimen. Main Outcome Measure(s): The relationship of sperm motility and motion characteristics to type of cancer and patient's response to treatment. Result(s): Prefreeze and post-thaw semen quality did not differ between patients presenting with testicular cancer and Hodgkin's disease. Patients with leukemia or advanced soft tissue cancer had a higher prefreeze and post-thaw motility and higher total and motile sperm count than testicular and Hodgkin's disease patients, A prefreeze sperm motility of greater than or equal to 15% could predict a post-thaw motility of >10%. Conclusion(s): Prefreeze or post thaw semen quality in cancer patients is not affected (except the prefreeze motile sperm count within the testicular cancer patients) by the type of disease. Prefreeze motility can predict post-thaw motility. Cryopreservation of semen should be offered to cancer patients irrespective of the type of disease.