Men who are interested in having children in the future should talk to their doctors about options for sperm banking before starting chemotherapy. This process involves producing sperm, which is then frozen and stored at a specialist clinic.
Chemotherapy drugs can damage or destroy sperm-producing cells in the testicles, leading to temporary or permanent infertility. But with proper planning, sperm banking can help prevent this side effect.
How long does chemo last?
If you are a man of reproductive age and thinking about fathering a child, talk to your cancer doctor about the potential impact on your fertility. Men can be given the option to store their sperm before chemotherapy starts (sperm banking).
Chemotherapy drugs work by killing cells in the body that are dividing quickly, including cells that produce mature sperm. The type of chemotherapy treatment you receive, the doses and your age all affect how well sperm production recovers.
A lot of the time, if the sperm-producing stem cells are not killed by chemotherapy, a person’s sperm count will return to normal after cancer treatment finishes. But this may take many years and is not guaranteed to happen. For this reason, some men never find they can have children, a condition known as azoospermia or oligospermia.
If your sperm counts are low, you might be able to improve them through a healthy diet and lifestyle, supplements such as folic acid and zinc, reducing stress levels and taking exercise, and not smoking or using drugs. It’s important to use a reliable form of contraception during your treatment and for several months afterwards. This prevents you getting pregnant and also protects your sexual partner from any of your chemotherapy drugs that might be in your semen. Men can also be offered hormone therapy to restore sperm health.
How long does chemo affect sperm?
Chemotherapy drugs are designed to kill cancer cells, but they also affect other rapidly dividing cells, including those in the testicles that produce sperm. This can lead to a decrease in sperm count, motility, and morphology, and may even permanently damage them, making a man infertile.
Radiation treatment can also have a negative impact on fertility. Radiation that is aimed directly at the testicles or pelvic area can damage the Leydig cells that make sperm. This can reduce a man’s fertility and cause ejaculatory dysfunction, where semen doesn’t leave the penis during orgasm (also known as ejaculation).
Surgery to treat prostate or bladder cancer can have similar effects on a man’s fertility. This is because these surgeries often remove the prostate gland and seminal vesicles, which are necessary for sperm production.
Men that are treated for lymphoma, the most common form of cancer in men of reproductive age, may experience temporary infertility as a result of chemotherapy or radiation. However, if they avoid high doses of chemotherapy and radiation and use effective birth control methods, their fertility may return several months to years after finishing treatment.
Men should discuss fertility preservation options with their oncologists before beginning treatment. These include sperm banking or testicular tissue freezing. However, sometimes a man’s sperm count is so low that it’s not possible to bank any samples. In these cases, an oncologist might recommend waiting two to five years after completing chemotherapy before trying to father a child.
How long does chemo affect fertility?
Chemotherapy uses powerful medications to kill cancer cells but these drugs can also affect healthy cells, including sperm cells. This can lead to infertility and damage sperm DNA. The good news is that sperm counts and quality often recover after chemotherapy, though it can take several years. If sperm production does not return after treatment, it can lead to permanent infertility.
Fertility preservation options for males include sperm banking and fertility treatments. Sperm banking involves producing several samples of sperm and freezing them. The samples are then stored at a specialist clinic. When a man is ready to father a child, the clinic can thaw and inseminate the sperm to produce a pregnancy.
Some chemotherapy drugs, especially alkylating agents, can severely decrease sperm production. Others, such as cisplatin and doxorubicin, can cause permanent infertility. However, some chemotherapies that use different drug combinations may not damage sperm as much.
Radiation therapy can also have a negative impact on sperm. For example, brachytherapy, which involves inserting small radioactive seeds into the prostate gland, can reduce sperm production and sperm motility.
Men who want to father a child should discuss their fertility options with their oncologist before starting chemotherapy. They should use a barrier method of contraception, such as a condom or female condom, during treatment. This will protect the partner from chemotherapy drugs that could harm an unborn baby.
How long will chemo affect sperm?
The length of time that sperm production is affected by chemotherapy depends on the type and dose of drugs used and the patient’s age and general health. It can also depend on the location and extent of the damage to the testicles. In some cases, the treatment damage to sperm cells can be reversed using hormonal therapy or other medications.
The chemo drugs that most significantly affect fertility include alkylating agents, such as anthracyclines and doxorubicin. These drugs can damage the sperm-forming stem cells, leading to reduced sperm production. Other types of chemo can cause azoospermia, which is defined by a low sperm count and distorted genetic makeup (aneuploidy). In these cases, the men may never see sperm levels return to normal, even years after chemotherapy has finished.
Radiation treatments that are aimed directly at the testicles can also cause severe sperm damage, particularly in prepubescent males. Similarly, young men who are treated for childhood leukemia or lymphoma with radiation to the groin area may need to wait until their testicles have completely recovered before trying to father children.
The risk of sperm damage can be lessened by having a partner produce and freeze sperm prior to starting cancer treatment. These samples can be thawed when the men are ready to try for a baby, and the sperm can be used with assisted reproductive techniques such as in vitro fertilization or intrauterine insemination.
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