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Radiation effects on male fertility
Author(s) -
De Felice F.,
Marchetti C.,
Marampon F.,
Cascialli G.,
Muzii L.,
Tombolini V.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
andrology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.947
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 2047-2927
pISSN - 2047-2919
DOI - 10.1111/andr.12562
Subject(s) - spermatogenesis , fertility , male fertility , testosterone (patch) , radiation therapy , medicine , ionizing radiation , male reproductive system , clinical practice , physiology , leydig cell tumor , fertility preservation , oncology , leydig cell , gynecology , andrology , sperm , family medicine , population , environmental health , irradiation , hormone , luteinizing hormone , physics , nuclear physics
Summary Background Spermatogenesis is a process of dynamic cell differentiation. Ionizing radiation impairs spermatogenesis, and spermatogonia are more radiosensitive than spermatocytes or spermatids. Consistent with this assumption and due to improvement in tumor curability, nowadays, fertility preservation represents a public health need. Objectives To discuss radiotherapy‐induced risk to male fertility and raise oncologic awareness of male fertility in daily clinical practice. Materials and Methods PubMed and Clinicaltrials.gov databases were searched for papers in English. Results We provide an overview of clinical landscape. Four main issues were proposed: (i) spermatogenesis and radiobiological general concepts; (ii) impairment of spermatogenesis; (iii) impairment of testosterone‐producing Leydig cells; (iv) clinical radiotherapy evidence in oncology. Conclusion This review can be useful in daily clinical work and offer some directions for future research.