Reactions 423 - 17 Oct 1992

Antineoplastics

Azoospermia: incidence studyAzoospermia was evident in 28 of 55 men, aged 18-43

(median 20) years, who had been treated for differentmalignancies in their childhood. The risk of azoospermia wasassociated with age, use of testicular irradiation andantineoplastics including asparaginase, cyclophosphamide,doxorubicin, vincristine, chlormethine, procarbazine andprednisone. In multivariate analysis, vincristine had the mostsignificant independent effect on the risk of azoospermia.Vincristine recipients had a 5-fold increase in risk comparedwith patients who did not receive vincristine The risk was3.4-fold higher with cyclophosphamide and 8.2-fold higherwith testicular irradiation.

Author comment: ‘We conclude that vincristine may have apreviously unrecognised role in causing azoospermia, possiblyirreversible, when administered in childhood or adolescence.’Rautonen J, et al. Vincristine is associated with the risk of azoospermia in adultmale survivors of childhood malignancies. European Journal of Cancer 28A:1837-1841, Aug 1992 - Finland 800158503

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Reactions 17 Oct 1992 No. 4230114-9954/10/0423-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved