Is Recovery of Gonadal function possible in Very Long-Term Adult Male Survivors of Hodgkin's Lymphoma?

Significant improvements in childhood cancer survival rates over recent decades have increased the importance of long-term treatment effects. Gonadal toxicity is a major complication in survivors of childhood cancer, which can especially occur in Hodgkin Lymphoma survivors, since they have been treated with alkylating agents. Inhibin B levels reflect gonadal function in men, and therefore this marker can be used to identify subgroups of childhood cancer survivors at risk for impaired gonadal function. Hitherto in male childhood cancer survivors, follow-up studies of gonadal function are lacking.

To evaluate possible recovery of gonadal dysfunction over time in adult male survivors.

In this retrospective study, adult male long-term childhood cancer survivors (n=201) of whom 24 (12%) were survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma were included. Serum inhibin B levels were used as a surrogate marker for gonadal function.

Median age at diagnosis was 6.0 years (range 0.0–17.5) and discontinuation of treatment was reached at a median age of 8.3 years (range 0.0–20.8). Inhibin B levels were first measured after a median follow-up time of 15.7 years (range 3.0–37.0). Median interval between the first (T1) and second measurement (T2) was 3.3 years (range 0.7–11.3). Median inhibin B level was 127 ng/L (range 5–366) at T1 and 156 ng/L (range 10–507) at T2. Survivors with an inhibin B level at first assessment≥105 ng/L have 50% chance to reach normal inhibin B levels, while this probability of recovery is negligible when the first inhibin B level is below 60 ng/L. The latter group consists of survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma treated with alkylating agents and survivors with an AAD score≥3.

Our results suggest that recovery of gonadal function is possible even long after discontinuation of treatment. However, this recovery does not seem to occur in survivors who already reached critically low inhibin B levels after discontinuation of treatment, such as in survivors of a Hodgkin lymphoma treated with alkylating agents.

No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.