Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov-Dec;24(6):584-590.
doi: 10.4103/aja2021129.

Testicular sperm extraction (TESE) outcomes in the context of malignant disease: a systematic review

Ludmilla Ogouma  1 , Isabelle Berthaut  1   2 , Rachel Lévy  1   2 , Rahaf Haj Hamid  1 , Marie Prades  1 , Marie Audouin  3 , Nathalie Sermondade  1   2 , Charlotte Dupont  1   2
Affiliations

Testicular sperm extraction (TESE) outcomes in the context of malignant disease: a systematic review

Ludmilla Ogouma et al. Asian J Androl. 2022 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Advances in the oncology field have led to improved survival rates. Consequently, quality of life after remission is anticipated, which includes the possibility to conceive children. Since cancer treatments are potentially gonadotoxic, fertility preservation must be proposed. Male fertility preservation is mainly based on ejaculated sperm cryopreservation. When this is not possible, testicular sperm extraction (TESE) may be planned. To identify situations in which TESE has been beneficial, a systematic review was conducted. The search was carried out on the PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and CISMeF databases from 1 January 2000 to 19 March 2020. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) recommendations were followed in selecting items of interest. Thirty-four articles were included in the systematic review, including 15 articles on oncological testicular sperm extraction (oncoTESE), 18 articles on postgonadotoxic treatment TESE and 1 article on both oncoTESE and postgonadotoxic treatment TESE. Testicular sperm freezing was possible for 42.9% to 57.7% of patients before gonadotoxic treatment and for 32.4% to 75.5% of patients after gonadotoxic treatment, depending on the type of malignant disease. Although no formal conclusion could be drawn about the chances to obtain sperm in specific situations, our results suggest that TESE can be proposed before and after gonadotoxic treatment. Before treatment, TESE is more often proposed for men with testicular cancer presenting with azoospermia since TESE can be performed simultaneously with tumor removal or orchiectomy. After chemotherapy, TESE may be planned if the patient presents with persistent azoospermia.

Keywords: cancer; fertility preservation; oncological testicular sperm extraction; spermatozoa; testicular sperm extraction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of study selection for systematic review with PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and CISMeF database between 1 January 2000 to 19 March 2020.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Siegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2015. CA Cancer J Clin. 2015;65:5–29. - PubMed
    1. Patterson P, Perz J, Tindle R, McDonald FE, Ussher JM. Infertility after cancer:how the need to be a parent, fertility-related social concern, and acceptance of illness influence quality of life. Cancer Nurs. 2020;44:244–51. - PubMed
    1. Lambertini M, Del Mastro L, Pescio MC, Andersen CY, Azim HA, Jr, et al. Cancer and fertility preservation:international recommendations from an expert meeting. BMC Med. 2016;14:1. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Fertility preservation and reproduction in patients facing gonadotoxic therapies:an Ethics Committee opinion. Fertil Steril. 2018;110:380–6. - PubMed
    1. Huleihel M, Lunenfeld E. Approaches and technologies in male fertility preservation. Int J Mol Sci. 2020;21:5471. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types