Male cancer sufferers facing chemotherapy or radiation treatment may now preserve their potential to become fathers through a University Medical Center sperm-preserving program unlike any other in Arizona.

"Whatever the cancer treatment, it's going to have some sort of effect on the male's ability to produce sperm. It's impossible to know for sure beforehand what effects it's going to have," said David Karabinus, program coordinator and director of the andrology laboratory at UMC. "Now patients preparing for cancer treatment can take steps to preserve their reproductive potential by banking sperm before the initiation of treatment."

Donated sperm are first cryopreserved, which involves freezing the semen samples to minus 196 degrees Celsius. They are then stored in vats of liquid nitrogen until extraction for insemination.

The program, which has no formal name, has existed since Karabinus arrived at UMC in 1992, but thus far has had only 30 participants in its four operating years.

"It's my feeling that the public generally is not aware that this service is available," Karabinus said. "In that rush between diagnosis and initiation of treatment ... the push is to save the patient's life. Other considerations get pushed out of the way."

Dr. Timothy Gelety, director of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at UMC, said, "The most important thing is that for people who are contemplating undergoing treatment for cancer that might render them sterile, it is very important to do this beforehand. Sometimes people are concerned because they're not able to bank enough sperm to make it worthwhile, but with the advances in techniques to achieve pregnancy, even a single vial of sperm would be sufficient for most couples to have a whole family."

Success rates for the program, while skewed by the limited patient participation, are promising. Since the program began, three of five couples who attempted to procreate succeeded. One couple even had twins, he said.

Karabinus could not identify a specific reason for the failures.

"Semen quality of cancer patients seems to be lower than the norm," he said. "When semen quality is high, post-thaw viability is also going to be high, but when semen quality is low, post-thaw viability is disproportionately low."

Applicants have ranged from patients with relatively mild cancers to life-threatening ones, Karabinus said.

A common affliction among his applicants is Hodgkin's disease, a "very treatable" cancer which tends to affect individuals in the reproductive years. "However, the chemotherapeutic drugs that are used for it tend to really zap spermatogenesis," he said.

Whatever the success rates, participation in the UMC program comes at a price. The program costs $250 for initial processing and $200 per year after that for storage fees.

"I personally look at it as inexpensive reproductive insurance," he said.

Karabinus also stressed the program's uniqueness.

"I doubt strongly that there's a program in the state that's geared specifically for preservation of cancer patients' semen," Karabinus said. "In your larger cities with larger infertility programs, you'll see a free-standing, if you will, andrology lab either affiliated with a program or independent."

---

Daily Wildcat News Opinions Sports PoliceBeat Comics Arts