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ABSTRACT
Steady improvements in the long term outlook for adolescents and young adults with cancer require a shift in focus towards ensuring quality of life after cancer treatment as well as quantity. An important component of quality of life for many men is the ability to father a biological child. However, direct effects of malignancy, as well as potentially gonadotoxic cancer treatments, render many men azoospermic. Where cryopreservation of a good quality semen sample is not possible or was not offered prior to initiation of treatment, microdissection testicular sperm extraction (mTESE) offers a potential route to biological fatherhood. This review explores current evidence supporting the use of mTESE in patients treated for cancer, as well as some of the barriers and questions that still remain before this technique can form part of routine practice.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The Section of Endocrinology and Investigative Medicine is funded by grants from the MRC, BBSRC, NIHR, an Integrative Mammalian Biology (IMB) Capacity Building Award, an FP7- HEALTH- 2009- 241592 EuroCHIP grant and is supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre Funding Scheme. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health. JT is funded by The Northwest Thames Academic Foundation Programme. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.