New Study: Innovative Technique Allows Male Cancer Survivors Sterile From Treatment To Father Children

Men who were previously deemed sterile due to aggressive cancer treatments may still be able to biologically father children according to a new study published in the journal, Bone Marrow Transplantation.

The study's lead author, Paul Turek, MD, former professor and endowed chair at the University of California San Francisco and founder of The Turek Clinic, pioneered the technique, called FNA Sperm Mapping, that is able to discover pockets of viable sperm in the testes. The sperm can then be extracted with minimally invasive procedures and used for in vitro fertilization and single sperm injection.

"This advance in medicine has been a long time in the making, but we have reached a point where a critical mass of physicians believe in and are using sperm mapping as a state-of-the-art tool to help couples conceive," said Dr. Turek, a men's reproductive health expert. "Sperm mapping offers men who are 'sterile' new hope for fatherhood." The study, "Paternity after directed collection of testicular sperm for in vitro fertilization after BMT for hematological malignancies," documented two novel cases of men who had received high does of chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation. The men had previously been diagnosed and treated for hemotologic cancers (chronic myelogenous leukemia and Hodgkin's disease) and later, as survivors, desired to father children.

The men were initially found to have no sperm in their ejaculate, a condition known as azoospermia, a finding that occurs more than 70 percent of cancer survivors after bone marrow transplantation. After undergoing the testis sperm mapping technique, small pockets of sperm were discovered. With assisted reproduction using these sperm, both successfully fathered healthy children. In previously published research, investigators reported a 65 percent success rate in finding sperm in the testis of patients with azoospermia after chemotherapy for both benign and malignant disease.
However, the cases currently reported involve men who received much higher doses of chemotherapy that are typically associated with bone marrow transplants. And despite the use of assisted reproduction in chemotherapy-exposed sperm, no increase in birth defect rates have been noted. Dr. Turek notes, however, that for men who need radiation and chemotherapy for cancer treatment, sperm banking prior to the therapy remains the single best way to preserve their reproductive potential.

"Patients undergoing cancer treatments need to be informed of the good news on the other side," Dr. Turek states. "There are sophisticated and effective ways to help men become fathers after the storm of cancer treatment has passed." About Sperm Mapping Testis sperm mapping, also known as FNA Mapping, was pioneered by Dr. Turek 13 years ago. The procedure is a breakthrough, minimally invasive reproductive treatment for men found to be sterile from genetic or other causes of infertility.

Sperm mapping involves the use of fine needle aspiration (FNA) to take small tissue samples nonsurgically from 15 designated - or mapped - areas of each testicle under local anesthesia in 30 minutes.

Source:The Turek Clinic

HMC doctors find best treatment for male infertility

DOHA: Microsurgery is found to be the best procedure to treat infertility in men according to doctors at the Hamad Medical corporation. The Urology Depart at HMC is using some of the most advanced microsurgical procedures to successfully treat sterility in male patients in Qatar.

A study on 298 infertile patients over a period of five years has revealed that ‘Microsurgery’ is the best procedure to treat male infertility in patients, who are afflicted by ‘Varicocele’, which is the main cause for infertility in 40 percent of the patients.
A paper on comparative study of Open, Laparoscopic and Microsurgical approaches to treat male infertility conducted by doctors and specialist at Urology department was selected as the Best Article for 2008, as part of the of Best Publication Award event at Medical Research Centre, HMC.
With world-wide statistics revealing 10 to15 percent of male population suffering from infertility of some sorts, the Urology department at HMC has pioneered the use of microsurgical varicocelectomy to treat male infertility, which has led to increased pregnancy rate in infertile couples.
“The microsurgery procedure is a day surgery not requiring hospitalisation and has several advantages over open technique and laparoscopy. There is no hydrocele formation, a lower incidence of recurrent varicocele, and better improvement in sperm count and motility,” said Dr Abdulla Al Ansari, Consultant Urologist, who has contributed immensely to the comparative study conducted at HMC to treat male infertility.
The successful mastering of microsurgical procedure to treat male infertility at HMC has led to an increased demand by patients from GCC countries such as KSA, UAE, Oman etc, for HMC services.
“HMC infertility clinic is now benchmarked against some of the most advanced medical facilities world-wide. We at the Urology department have now disease specific sub-specialties to deal with patients and cases”, stated Dr Sami S Al Said, Consultant Urologist and Andrologist, HMC while receiving the award.
The study conducted by Urology department on male infertility has been published in one of the most reputed international journals, claimed Dr Al Hareth M Al Khater, Chairman, Medical Research Centre, HMC.
“The Medical Research Centre at HMC was established in 1998. In 2009, we have received almost 200 proposals for research and 100 have been approved by our scientific and ethics committees. 40 research papers submitted by HMC doctors have already been published or accepted for publication this year in various international journals. Some of the medical research proposals are also funded by Qatar National Research Fund under the aegis of Qatar Foundation,” Dr. Al Hareth said.
SOURCE: BIOMED.COM