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Fertility preservation in males with cancer of trends, region development, and efficacy in mainland China from 16 regions Chinese sperm banks

  • Fertility Preservation
  • Published:
Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Male cancer survivors experience confusion about fertility following cancer treatment. The aims of this study were to evaluate survivors’ semen quality in different tumor type groups in China and to analyze the current situation and challenges of male cancer patients with sperm cryopreservation.

Methods

This was a multicenter retrospective study of male patients with cancer who underwent sperm cryopreservation in 16 regions of the national sperm banks over an 11-year period from 2010 to 2020.

Results

The number of male cancer patients with sperm cryopreservation showed an overall upward trend. The development of male cancer fertility preservation (FP) in the eastern, central, and western regions of Chinese displayed imbalance. There are seven tumor types for sperm preservation in the top incidence ten tumor types, including lymphoma, leukemia, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, sarcoma, thyroid cancer, and brain tumor. Moreover, nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a high incidence rate in China, which is related to high sperm preservation rate, different from other countries. The most percentage of males receiving sperm cryopreservation in the testicular cancers (15–39 years old) of China in 2020 was 5.55%, 1.29% in the lymphoma, and 0.39% in the leukemia. According to the type of cancer, a statistically significant lower pre-sperm density, total sperm output, and post-sperm density was observed in testicular cancers. It is worth noting that the prevalence of azoospermia 22.2% in leukemia patients attribute to urgent treatment before sperm cryopreservation. Disposition of cryopreserved sperm categories included continued storage (47.2%), discarded (9%), death (0.9%), and use (3.7%).

Conclusion

This study provides the first comprehensive national statistical census and review of fertility preservation in male cancer patients with respect to trends, prevalence, and cancer types. The development of male cancer fertility preservation in China is imbalanced and percentage of males receiving sperm cryopreservation in the adolescent and young adult cancers was low. Sixteen human sperm banks from China analyze current problems and challenges, and then prioritize steps toward the achievement of the FP strategy framework for Healthy China 2030.

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Data availability

The authors will supply the relevant data in response to reasonable requests.

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Funding

This study is funded by the Sichuan Science and Technology Program (2022YFS0045), Dr. Fuping Li; Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (202002030480), Qiling Wang; Department of Natural Resources of Guangdong Province (2021A1515011544), Xinzong Zhang.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Xiao Liu and Qiling Wang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Andrology/Sichuan Human Sperm Bank, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

    Xiao Liu & Fuping Li

  2. NHC Key Laboratory of Male Reproduction and Genetics Guangdong Provincial Reproductive, Science Institute (Guangdong Provincial Fertility Hospital), Guangzhou, 510062, Guangdong, China

    Qiling Wang & Xinzong Zhang

  3. Zhejiang Mater Child and Reproductive Health Center, Hangzhou, 310000, Zhejiang, China

    Huiqiang Sheng

  4. Human Sperm Bank of National Research Institute for Family Planning, Beijing, 100098, China

    Xiaowei Liang

  5. The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guilin, 530021, Guangxi, China

    Zhiqiang Wang

  6. Hubei Province Human Sperm Bank, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430010, Hubei, China

    Tianqing Meng

  7. Henan Human Sperm Bank, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450014, Henan, China

    Yushan Li

  8. Department of Urological Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650032, Yunnan, China

    Hao Dong

  9. Reproductive & Genetic Hospital of CITIC-Xiangya, Changsha, 410008, Hunan, China

    Wenbing Zhu

  10. Chongqing Research Institute for Population and Family Planning Science and Technology, Human Sperm Bank, Chongqing, 401121, China

    Jigao Yang

  11. Northwest Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Xian, 610045, Shaanxi, China

    Zhou Zhang

  12. Nanchang Reproductive Hospital, Nanchang, 330001, Jiangxi, China

    Xianglong Jiang

  13. Human Sperm Bank of The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730099, Gansu, China

    Aiping Zhang

  14. The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, China

    Zuowen Liang

  15. Anhui Provincial Human Sperm Bank, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, Anhui, China

    Xiaojin He

  16. Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Sperm Bank, Taiyuan, 030001, Shanxi, China

    Chunying Song

  17. Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu, China

    Xiao Liu & Fuping Li

Authors
  1. Xiao Liu
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  2. Qiling Wang
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  3. Huiqiang Sheng
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  4. Xiaowei Liang
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  5. Zhiqiang Wang
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  6. Tianqing Meng
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  7. Yushan Li
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  9. Wenbing Zhu
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  11. Zhou Zhang
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  12. Xianglong Jiang
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  15. Xiaojin He
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  16. Chunying Song
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  17. Fuping Li
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  18. Xinzong Zhang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Fuping Li or Xinzong Zhang.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University (No: 2020–001).

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Liu, X., Wang, Q., Sheng, H. et al. Fertility preservation in males with cancer of trends, region development, and efficacy in mainland China from 16 regions Chinese sperm banks. J Assist Reprod Genet (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-024-03121-w

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