Sperm Banking and Patients with Cancer. Issues Concerning Patients and Healthcare Professionals

In 1994, approximately 52,000 new cancers will have occurred in patients < or = 34 years of age. Reported survival rates for tumors common to males in this age group are promising and are expected to improve. Chemotherapy treatment may produce infertility, and without appropriate intervention, the aspiration of producing offspring may never be realized. Semen cryopreservation (sperm banking) may be offered to male patients with cancer as an intervention to circumvent loss of procreation ability resulting from chemotherapy-induced infertility. Oncology nurses can discuss infertility and sperm banking with patients at the most opportune time, before initiation of chemotherapy. Considerable debate exists among health-care professionals regarding the practicality and usage of sperm banking for young adult male patients with cancer being treated with chemotherapy. In addition, health-care professionals may be uncomfortable discussing issues of a sexual nature with patients. Staff nurses administering chemotherapy to young adult males need to work toward improving their knowledge about the effects of cancer and cancer treatment on reproduction. Improved knowledge will reinforce the importance of offering sperm banking to circumvent treatment-induced infertility.