Sperm quality in Hodgkin's disease versus non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

The study was conducted to determine the deleterious effect of lymphomadisease on spermatogenesis and to evaluate the possibility that the diseaseis mediated primarily by inherent mechanisms in Hodgkin's disease andnon-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients. A total of 89 patients with lymphomadisease (Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's) were referred for sperm preservationprior to adjuvant treatments. A comparison was made of pre- and post-thawsperm quality between lymphoma patients and healthy volunteers who appliedfor sperm donation. This was followed by further assessment of thedifferences between patients with Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin'slymphoma in terms of sperm variables, clinical parameters and blood hormoneconcentrations. It was found that patients with lymphoma disease hadsignificantly impaired pre-freeze and post-thaw sperm quality compared withthat of healthy volunteers. Patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma hadspermatozoa of higher quality than patients with Hodgkin's disease. Nodifferences were found in the clinical or hormonal parameters between thesetwo groups. As expected, reduced testicular size and abnormal testicularconsistency were correlated with decreased sperm quality. The mere presenceof cancer disease has a direct negative effect on spermatogenesis, which isprobably not related to incidental side-effects. A variable degree ofimpairment should be expected with different categories of cancer.