To Study Level of Gonadal Hormone in Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

Objectives: The objective of this study was to study the alteration in levels of testosterone, luteinising hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and prolactin in male cancer patients’ post-chemotherapy who have been started on drugs causing grade III or more haematological toxicity requiring granulocyte colony-stimulating factor support. Materials and Methods: An open-labelled prospective single-centre study for the assessment of Gonadal dysfunction in male cancer patients on chemotherapy from August 2010 to October 2012. Results: Patients had a significant alteration in testosterone (23% n = 11), LH (52.08% n = 25), FSH (83.3% n = 40) and prolactin levels (22.92% n = 11) post-chemotherapy, which was statistically significant ( P < 0.05). The high dose, as well as the low dose Cisplatin group, were associated with substantial gonadal dysfunction in testicular tumour patients. Hence, regimens using low-dose cisplatin at the cost of compromising the cure rate for the motive of preservation of fertility are not warranted. There was no statistically significant difference found in alteration in mean testosterone, mean LH or mean FSH Prolactin levels among cisplatin, cyclophosphamide or combined cisplatin and cyclophosphamide chemotherapy group, at least in the initial weeks of post-chemotherapy. Conclusion: There is a significant gonadal dysfunction in cancer patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy. Hence, increasing awareness to prevent, detect and treat expected long-term toxicities is crucial. Prechemotherapy cryopreservation of semen and assisted reproductive technologies are good options to describe the rate of involuntary infertility without affecting the survival of patients by decreasing doses of chemotherapy.