Semen cryopreservation for men banking for oligospermia, cancers, and other pathologies: prediction of post-thaw outcome using basal semen quality.

Objective: To evaluate post-thawing sperm parameters in a large series of men cryopreserving for different cancers and oligospermia.

Design: Retrospective observational study.

Setting: Semen cryopreservation laboratory.

Patient(s): Six hundred twenty-three patients undergoing semen cryopreservation for cancer or oligospermia who discontinued banking.

Intervention(s): None.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Postcryopreservation sperm motility and viability.

Result(s): In oligospermic men, recovery of motile sperm after cryopreservation was possible in only a few out of the 219 samples cryopreserved for this problem. Similarly, independent of the reason for which cryopreservation was required, if one basal semen parameter fell below the 5th percentile of the World Health Organization reference values, recovery of motile and viable spermatozoa after thawing was low. Among samples cryopreserved for cancer, those with testicular cancer showed the lowest basal semen quality and recovery after thawing. In cases of hematological cancers or other types of cancers, motility recovery was similar to that of non-cancer-related samples. Receiver operating characteristic analyses demonstrate that basal progressive and total motility predict the recovery rate of motile sperm after thawing with high accuracy, sensibility and specificity.

Conclusion(s): Our study demonstrates the ability of prefreeze semen parameters to predict cryosurvival in terms of sensitivity and precision. Using this information, the clinician could perform appropriate counseling about the future possibilities of fertility for the patient.