Open AccessInhibin B: are modified ranges needed for orchiectomised testicular cancer patients?
Author(s) -
Petrozzi
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
asian journal of andrology/asian journal of andrology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.701
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1745-7262
pISSN - 1008-682X
DOI - 10.4103/aja.aja_93_18
Subject(s) - medicine , percentile , semen , spermatogenesis , hormone , gynecology , testicular cancer , semen quality , group b , follicle stimulating hormone , semen analysis , fertility preservation , andrology , endocrine system , endocrinology , cancer , infertility , fertility , biology , pregnancy , luteinizing hormone , population , statistics , mathematics , environmental health , genetics
Inhibin B is a gonadal hormone that downregulates the pituitary production of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). In recent years, inhibin B has proved to be an excellent marker of spermatogenesis and even a predictive factor for the recovery of fertility in patients undergoing orchiectomy and antineoplastic treatments. We propose to study inhibin B levels in orchiectomised testicular cancer patients, in order to identify a minimum value representative of normal semen quality. This retrospective study evaluates hormonal and semen parameters of 290 normozoospermic patients attending the Laboratory of Seminology - Sperm Bank "Loredana Gandini" (Rome, Italy) for cryopreservation of seminal fluid following a diagnosis of testicular cancer (TC group) and 117 healthy, normozoospermic men as a control group (CTR group). The percentile distribution of gonadotropin and inhibin B values in the TC and CTR groups was analyzed. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in the levels of all hormones (P ≤ 0.001) and in all semen parameters (P < 0.05). About 20% of TC patients revealed inhibin B levels below the 5 th percentile of CTR group, despite normozoospermia, and 31.4% had normal spermatogenesis in the presence of FSH values >95 th percentile of CTR group. Orchiectomised patients for testicular cancer presented inhibin B levels lower than healthy patients, despite normozoospermia. Our study revealed the poor sensitivity of the current inhibin B reference range when applied to monorchidic patients, suggesting the need to establish more representative ranges to enable more appropriate counseling in relation to the patient's new endocrine condition.