In vitro fertilization-intracytoplasmic sperm injection success rates with cryopreserved sperm from patients with malignant disease.

Objective: To describe the success rate of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) using thawed cryopreserved sperm in male cancer patients.

Design: Retrospective consecutive study.

Setting: IVF unit in a tertiary university hospital.

Patient(s): Twenty-one couples treated by ICSI using the frozen-thawed sperm of husbands treated for cancer.

Intervention(s): Follow-up of all treatments by ICSI.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Pregnancy rate, sperm count, and fertilization rate.

Result(s): Male patients being treated for cancer froze between one and 29 sperm samples. Post-thaw sperm count ranged from 1 x 10(5) to 106 x 10(6). The mean fertilization rate by ICSI was 60% (range, 33%-100%), and the pregnancy rate was 42%. Twenty-six pregnancies were obtained resulting in 23 children (13 singleton and 10 twins) and eight spontaneous abortions (31%). Delivery was obtained in 12 of the 21 treated couples (57%). The lowest total motile sperm count that resulted in a pregnancy was 1 x 10(5).

Conclusion(s): Male cancer patients should be encouraged to freeze numerous sperm samples even when sperm count and motility are poor. In these cases, ICSI is a powerful technique compared with intrauterine injection since thawed sperm samples with poor parameters can produce relatively high fertilization rates resulting in normal pregnancies and deliveries. The possibility to repeat treatments even in the face of a limited number of sperm samples appears to be of importance.