Fist batch of oral reports (For Dec. 22-25, 2021)

BIO 133 LEC2 (TF 10-11:30 AM) — Spermatogenesis

BIO 133 LEC2 (TF 10-11:30 AM) — Spermatogenesis

by John Patrick Bisquera -
Number of replies: 7

Good day, everyone! We are Jeliza Agustin, John Patrick Bisquera, and Elian Christopher Punzalan of Group 1 from the BIO 133 class, LEC2. Attached below is the link to our report on the journal article, Disruption of Spermatogenesis by the Cancer Disease Process by Ashok Agarwal & Shyam S. R. Allamaneni (2005).

https://youtu.be/Mtw1RzTGeGg

Should you have any questions regarding our report, please do not hesitate to comment below. Thank you and happy holidays!

In reply to John Patrick Bisquera

Re: BIO 133 LEC2 (TF 10-11:30 AM) — Spermatogenesis

by Jamaica Quinto -
Hello, Elian, Patrick, and Jeliza!

First of all, well done on your well-detailed presentation! The correlation between certain cancer diseases and their treatment regimens and impaired spermatogenesis is an interesting topic. Furthermore, you mentioned that cryopreservation is a widely used method for addressing temporary or permanent infertility in male cancer patients, with promising findings in several studies. With that, our group (Quinto, Santos, and Razuman) would like to know if cryopreservation can also be used in prepubertal male cancer patients? How about in late-staged cancer patients whose sperm parameters may have been severely affected?
In reply to John Patrick Bisquera

Re: BIO 133 LEC2 (TF 10-11:30 AM) — Spermatogenesis

by Ma Kristina Pungtilan -

Hello Elian, Jeliza, and Patrick!

We are Edzo, Lizzie, and IA from Group 4 of Bio 133 LEC2. 

First of all, we would want to congratulate your group for presenting the report in a very engaging and knowledgeable manner. We enjoyed watching your presentation; it was as if you were presenting your own study because of how comfortable you all were while explaining.

Anyway, our group was intrigued about the alternative approach “Germ Cell Transplantation” for the preservation of fertility before cancer treatment. Can your group kindly expound how this approach will be a significant method? Additionally, in your opinion, what do you think is its edge compared to Cryopreservation?

Thank you very much and merry Christmas to all.

In reply to Ma Kristina Pungtilan

Re: BIO 133 LEC2 (TF 10-11:30 AM) — Spermatogenesis

by John Patrick Bisquera -
Hi Edzo, Lizzie, and IA. Merry Christmas! Thank you for your inquiries. To address your first request, we will first expound on the concept of germ cell transplantation. First developed in 1994 by Dr. Ralph Brinster and colleagues, germ cell transplantation (GCT) is a method that can be used to preserve fertility in humans and other animals. In this method, germ cell populations including spermatogonial stem cells are first isolated from a donor animal’s testis and are subsequently transplanted/microinjected into the testis of an infertile recipient. After this, the recipient’s testis then undergoes spermatogenesis to produce donor-derived sperm (Uchida & Dobrinski, 2018). This method is significant as it holds tremendous applications in a wide array of fields. For example, in biomedical research using animal transgenesis, current methods used in the field are low in efficiency. GCT provides a solution to this issue as it produces transgenic sperm in a significantly quicker time as compared to other methods. Moreover, GCT also holds promise in preserving male fertility. Findings of recent research into this method have shown its feasibility in preserving the fertility of patients with Klinefelter syndrome, cryptorchidism, or childhood cancers. To answer your other question, GCT also holds potential in overcoming the limitations of other methods in preserving fertility (such as cryopreservation) as it is a feasible method for preserving fertility in both prepubertal and postpubertal males. For example, semen cryopreservation is not a feasible method for prepubertal cancer patients at the risk of infertility and who require gonadotoxic therapies. A suitable approach to address this would be through the cryopreservation of the patient’s germ cells for future germ cell transplantation. In doing so, GCT has the potential to restore fertility among childhood cancer survivors who have become infertile due to cancer therapy.

Reference:
Uchida, A., & Dobrinski, I. (2018). Germ cell transplantation and neospermatogenesis. In The Complete Guide to Male Fertility Preservation (pp. 361-375). Springer, Cham.
In reply to John Patrick Bisquera

Re: BIO 133 LEC2 (TF 10-11:30 AM) — Spermatogenesis

by Lydia LEONARDO -
Thank you for your interesting report. I just have a few questions.
1. You mentioned something about undescended testes predisposing to malignancy. Can you explain this?
2. Aside from sperm count, what other functional properties are you referring to?
Thank you.
In reply to Lydia LEONARDO

Re: BIO 133 LEC2 (TF 10-11:30 AM) — Spermatogenesis

by John Patrick Bisquera -
Good evening, Ma’am Leonardo! Thank you for your insightful questions regarding the report. The following are our answers to your queries po:
1. Regarding po the relation of undescended testes and malignancy, the journal article assigned to our group stated that having said condition increases the risk of testicular malignancy. This is in agreement with data from Ferguson & Agoulnik (2013), Pettersson et al, (2007), and The American Cancer Society medical and editorial team (2018). According to Petterson et al (2007) and The American Cancer Society medical and editorial team (2018), undescended testes is one of the main risk factors for testicular cancer due to testicular cancer. Additionally, John Hopkins Medicine (n.d) describes that this statement is based on the following observations: malignancy is developed more commonly on the undescended testicle and that through orchiopexy the risk for testicular cancer is reduced. Although there is not much data on the mechanism of malignancy in those with undescended testes, gene expression studies have shown that there is deregulation of growth factors for the self-renewal and proliferation of germ cells (Ferguson & Agulnik, 2013).
2. In addition to sperm count, the other sperm parameters taken into account were sperm motility and volume of semen.

References:
Ferguson, L., & Agoulnik, A. I. (2013). Testicular cancer and cryptorchidism. Frontiers in endocrinology, 4, 32. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2013.00032
John Hopkins Medicine. (n.d.). Testicular cancer risk factors. Johns Hopkins Medicine. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/testicular-cancer/testicular-cancer-risk-factors
Pettersson, A., Richiardi, L., Nordenskjold, A., Kaijser, M., & Akre, O. (2007). Age at surgery for undescended testis and risk of testicular cancer. New England Journal of Medicine, 356(18), 1835-1841. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa067588
​​The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team. (2018, May 17). Risk Factors for Testicular Cancer. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/testicular-cancer/causes-risks-prevention/risk-factors.html
In reply to John Patrick Bisquera

Re: BIO 133 LEC2 (TF 10-11:30 AM) — Spermatogenesis

by Ivanne Joepert Idorot -
Hi Elian, Pat, and Jeliza. We commend your group for reporting a very interesting topic. Our group (Group 9 - Idorot, Ngo, Urbano) would like to ask the following questions:

  • You mentioned that a study found that semen abnormalities have no correlation with disease stage or systemic systemic symptoms while another study says otherwise. What do you think caused this inconsistency with the results and what do the theoretical data/assumptions suggest?
  • We would also like to know why the effect on spermatogenesis is more severe in those treated with alkylating chemotherapy agents compared with non-alkylating agents?

Thank you and happy holidays to your group.
In reply to John Patrick Bisquera

Re: BIO 133 LEC2 (TF 10-11:30 AM) — Spermatogenesis

by Christine Jem Dogta -
Hi Elian, Jeliza, and Patrick!

We want to commend you for your insightful presentation. We especially like the organization of the flow of topics and how well you elaborated them with research studies and statistical data to strengthen the claim of the facts presented.

I and my groupmate, Kiara Sta. Rita, would like to ask if a male cancer patient undergoes chemotherapy or radiotherapy and has a child after the treatment and his cancer remain in complete remission, do the mentioned treatments have any adverse effects on his child (i.e. fertility)? Thank you.