Reproductive Toxicity with and Without Administration of Luteinizing-Hormone-Releasing Hormone Agonist During Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Patients with Germ Cell Tumors

Since the introduction of aggressive chemotherapy, irradiation, and bone marrow transplantation, long-lasting remissions and cures have been achieved in patients with certain types of neoplastic diseases. With this therapeutic success, late side effects may become clinically significant in long-term survivors. It has been shown that all patients treated for germ cell tumors have severe and long lasting reproductive failure after curative chemotherapy consisting of four to six courses [1–7]. In contrast, the degree and duration of reproductive impairment after two courses of adjuvant chemotherapy are not known.