By David Douglas

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cancer patients who have had semen samples cryopreserved because of the possible adverse effects cancer or its treatment on their fertility, appear to have about a 50 percent chance of achieving parenthood, Dutch researchers report in the journal Fertility and Sterility.

"Semen cryopreservation should be offered to all male cancer patients," lead investigator Dr. Niels J. van Casteren told Reuters Health, "to offer them some kind of protection against the detrimental effects of chemotherapy, as it is not always clear who will and who will not become permanently infertile."

To determine the usage rate and outcome of assisted reproduction technology employing cryopreserved semen, van Casteren of Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, and colleagues conducted a review of data on 557 men from whom a total of 749 semen samples were preserved. Cryopreservation is a method of cooling cells or whole tissues and keeping them at sub-zero temperatures until they are ready to use.

Over an average follow-up of 7 years, 91 of the patients died and another 29 requested that their samples be disposed of. However, 42 (7.5 percent) who became infertile from cancer treatment requested that their banked semen be used, and assisted reproduction technology data was available for 37 of these men.

A total of 101 assisted reproduction technology cycles were performed. A number of different techniques were employed including intracytoplasmic sperm injection, in vitro fertilization, cryo-embryo transfer and intrauterine insemination.

In all, 25 children were born; 19 single infants and 3 sets of twins. Two couples were also awaiting a child by the end of the study period, thus achieving a success rate of at least 54 percent.

Based on these findings, van Casteren concludes that about 9 percent of men who survive their malignant disease will use their cryopreserved semen, and 50 percent of these men will achieve fatherhood. "These men would not have been able to do this without their stored semen."

SOURCE: Fertility and Sterility, December 2008.

• More News on Cancer--Living with Cancer
• More News on Infertility

Related MedlinePlus Pages:

• Cancer--Living with Cancer
• Infertility