title: Individual and seminal characteristics of patients with testicular germ cell tumors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the characteristics of patients with testicular germ cell cancer and compare patients' sperm quality according to histologic type (seminomatous and nonseminomatous tumors).
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sperm bank at a university.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred consecutive patients with testicular tumor who had been referred to our infertility center for cryopreservation, between 2004 and 2006.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire, through personal interview, was given to all patients and collection of seminal data before cryopreservation was performed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patient characteristics, including age, time between diagnosis and orchiectomy, history of cryptorchidism, histologic type, and seminal analysis were taken into consideration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the patients at the time of diagnosis was 26.9 years. The mean time between cancer suspicion and the diagnosis of neoplasm was 58.9 days, and 19.4 more days were necessary until orchiectomy was performed. Eleven patients had a history of cryptorchidism. Thirty-seven patients had seminomatous tumors. Men with a seminoma present a higher number of motile and morphologically normal sperm in the ejaculate than men with a nonseminoma, although individual semen variables are not different.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The majority of the patients with testicular cancer, referred to our infertility center, are very young, single, do not have children, and are unaware of their fertility potential status by the time diagnosis is made. Men with a nonseminoma present semen of lower quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, Sao Paulo Federal University, Sao Paulo, Brazil. renatofraietta@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fraietta
authors.forename: Deborah Montagnini
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Spaine
authors.forename: Ricardo Pimenta
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Bertolla
authors.forename: Valdemar
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.forename: Agnaldo Pereira
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Cedenho
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007248:Infertility, Male / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D009373:Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012661:Semen / Q000502:physiology*; D055101:Semen Analysis; D018239:Seminoma / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult