Fertility after testicular cancer treatments: results of a large multicenter study

Abstract

Background: Patients with testicular cancer have an excellent survival rate, and fertility is one of the main concerns of survivors. The authors investigated fertility status after treatment for testis cancer in long-term survivors.

Methods: Four hundred fifty-one consecutive patients with testicular cancer (1979-1999) from health facilities in the French Midi-Pyrenees region were enrolled. Testis tumors were classified according to the Royal Marsden Hospital Classification. Fertility status was assessed by means of a mailed, standardized questionnaire focused on reproductive events that occurred before and after treatment. Of 451 patients with germ-cell tumors, information concerning fertility was obtained in 446 patients (98.9%). The follow-up was at least 3 years.

Results: Before they were diagnosed with testicular cancer, 91.2% of patients who had tried to get their partners pregnant had succeeded, compared with 67.1% of patients after treatment. Radiotherapy had a much more deleterious effect on fertility compared with chemotherapy alone. Furthermore, cumulative conception rates (log-rank test) for patients who received radiotherapy were significantly lower compared with the rates for patients who received chemotherapy.

Conclusions: The outcome of this study, which included the largest series reported to date, showed that fertility in patients with testicular cancer decreased by 30% after treatments and that radiotherapy seemed to have the most deleterious effect on fertility.