Fertility Considerations in Male AYA Cancer Survivors
Many male patients entering survivorship will have already had a
fertility consult at the time of diagnosis or relapse of their disease.
Post-pubertal males may have opted to cryopreserve sperm prior to
therapy, while younger males or males unable to cryopreserve sperm may
have opted to participate in a research trial for testicular tissue
cryopreservation. Males who receive gonadotoxic therapy may have loss of
spermatogonial stem cells, but for those who are able to produce sperm
after the completion of treatment do not have the same risk for early
senescence of germ cell production that their female cancer survivor
counterparts experience. Survivorship is a time to revisit cancer
treatment related infertility risks and fertility status assessment
conversations with all patients.