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Natural and assisted conceptions in male cancer recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation who stored their semen for fertility preservation

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 57, pages 1327–1328 (2022)Cite this article

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Over the past decades, rates of cancer survivorship in young patients have increased [1]. One of the most undesirable and distressing sequelae of cancer treatment in young subjects is the fertility loss. This aspect is particularly worrisome in long-term survivors of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Therefore, international guidelines strongly recommend sperm banking before embarking in HCT [2]. However, information on male fertility following HCT as well as on the use and success rates of banked semen are still vague [3]. The two largest available contributions did not provide definite conclusions [4, 5]. In the present study, we aimed to estimate: (i) semen parameters before and after HCT; (ii) rate of searching for parenthood both naturally and by Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART) procedures; (iii) prevalence of post-HCT conceptions; (iv) long term usage of frozen sperm samples; (iv) success rates of ART cycles.

All male HCT recipients who cryopreserved semen in our center were considered. Eligibility criteria for inclusion were: (i) sperm cryopreservation for fertility preservation between 1987 and 2016; (ii) post-banking follow-up documenting HCT; (iii) survival for at least 5 years. The study was approved by the local Ethics Committee (Comitato Etico Area B, Milan) and a written consent was obtained from included patients.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy restrictions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Infertility Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy

    Marco Reschini, Stefania Ferrari, Francesca Filippi, Edgardo Somigliana & Paola Vigano’

  2. Urology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy

    Marco Cristina & Luca Boeri

  3. Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Edgardo Somigliana, Luca Boeri, Francesco Onida & Luca Baldini

  4. Hematology Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy

    Francesca Gaia Rossi, Francesco Onida & Luca Baldini

Authors
  1. Marco Reschini
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  2. Marco Cristina
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  3. Stefania Ferrari
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  4. Francesca Filippi
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  5. Edgardo Somigliana
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  6. Francesca Gaia Rossi
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  7. Luca Boeri
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  8. Francesco Onida
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  9. Luca Baldini
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  10. Paola Vigano’
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Contributions

The authors’ roles are the following: MR and PV conceptualized and designed the study, drafted the initial manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript. MC, SF, and FGR collected data and reviewed and revised the manuscript. MR and ES coordinated and supervised data collection, and carried out statistical analysis. LB, FO, LB and FF prepared the first draft of the manuscript. All authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marco Reschini.

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Competing interests

ES reports grants from Ferring, grants and personal fees from Merck-Serono, grants and personal fees from Theramex and Gedeon-Richter, outside the submitted work. MR reports personal fee from Merck-Serono outside the submitted work. PV reports grants from Theramex and ESHRE, speak honoraria from Merck. All the other authors do not have any competing interest to declare.

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Reschini, M., Cristina, M., Ferrari, S. et al. Natural and assisted conceptions in male cancer recipients of hematopoietic cell transplantation who stored their semen for fertility preservation. Bone Marrow Transplant 57, 1327–1328 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41409-022-01712-8

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