Male infertility and androgen replacement therapy for subjects with bilateral testicular tumors.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to investigate andrological aspects, including male infertility and androgen deficiency, after treatments of bilateral testicular tumors.

METHODS

Five subjects with bilateral testicular cancer were clinically analyzed between April 1996 and March 2013.

RESULTS

The mean age at initial treatment was 29.4 ± 3.3 years old. In the 4 metachronous cases, a contralateral tumor occurred after 79.0 ± 50.0 months. Histologically, bilateral seminoma occurred in 3 cases and seminoma and nonseminoma was combined in 2 cases. All subjects underwent bilateral orchiectomy, with additional chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery for metastasis. No tumor recurrence was observed in the 5-34 years following initial treatment. Two subjects married following bilateral orchiectomy after receiving informed consent from their wives. One had two children before contralateral testicular treatment. The other was single and had undergone micro-testicular sperm extraction at contralateral orchiectomy, although no sperm was found. The other one was unknown because long-term followup failed. Androgen replacement therapy (ART) was applied for 4 subjects, and relieved physical and psychological symptoms due to testosterone deficiency without adverse reactions.

CONCLUSIONS

ART safely and effectively relieves symptoms in subjects with bilateral testicular tumors. However, male infertility treatment is insufficient, and more aggressive management may be required.