Preserving Fertility in Boys With Cancer

While it may not be at the top of a boy’s priority list if he’s diagnosed with cancer, it may be a concern later on in his life if he wants to have a family. Teen boys who have reached puberty have the option of banking their semen, but boys who are not yet sexually mature don’t have that option.

All is not lost though, according to this news release from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, there is an option. While it is still experimental, animal studies have been very promsing: For young boys with cancer, testicular tissue banking may be option to preserve fertility,

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is offering a unique option to those boys: from infants up to younger adolescents, at-risk boys can have a tiny portion of their testis removed and frozen for their potential future use. Researchers are also using part of the tissue to investigate ways to help the immature cells in the testes to develop into useable sperm.

Study

Sixteen families of boys diagnosed with cancer agreed to a biopsy, 14 ended up going through with the procedure. While the boy was under general anesthetic, a piece of the testes, about the size of a pencil eraser, was removed and then frozen in two halves.

“As stressful as a child’s cancer diagnosis is, many parents said they wanted to be presented with options that might lead to future success in saving their sons’ fertility,” said Ginsberg, the director of the Cancer Survivorship Program at Children’s Hospital.

What do you think? Would you consider this for your son?

~~~

Image: PhotoXpress.com