Ten years of experience with semen cryopreservation by cancer patients: follow-up and clinical considerations

Antineoplastic damage to the testicular germinal epithelium with accompanying infertility or subfertility is now a recognized indication for the use of sperm banking. Thus, issues concerning quality of life now compete with questions of survival in decisions made in oncologic settings. In an attempt to learn what concerns patients who use semen preservation facilities, a 10-year retrospective study was undertaken. Registered mail and phone solicitation was used to determine follow-up characteristics of self-referred male cancer patients who voluntarily banked semen at a private facility before they began cancer treatment. The difficulties encountered in conducting follow-up on this group of patients raise questions about sperm banking practices by cancer populations.