Sperm banking prior to immunotherapy

[strawberryjam]

Hello all

I have been reading your posts for a month as we take this melanoma journey but have not posted before. I value the support and knowledge people have shared with each other. My 28 year old son is having a total lymph node dissection for metastatic melanoma today . His second lesion is very close to the primary which was on his neck. We saw an oncologist yesterday who said that immunotherapy will

follow surgery . He suggested that my son bank sperm prior to receiving the immunotherapy . Does anyone have information about this? The whole experience is more than overwhelming . I welcome any words of wisdom. Thank you and my best to each of you .

[jennunicorn21]

I am sorry your son is dealing with this, I was also 28 when I was first diagnosed and there was very little information about what these new immunotherapy drugs may or may not do to our reproductive system. I am 30 now, and will be stopping treatment soon. Nothing as far as I know has changed in that department for me, but time will tell once I start trying to have kids in a couple of years. My oncologist actually started a research study specifically on men to see how these drugs affect sperm. She only started the research less than a year ago, so we won't know the answer for a while. I think it would be a good idea to bank sperm as a safeguard, just in case.

[strawberryjam in reply to jennunicorn21]

Thank you for your kind response. I am

happy that you are almost finished with your therapy . We heard about a study at UCSF on male fertility but it is in progress so no results yet. My son will start immunotherapy in a few weeks although we don’t know which drug he will take . It is quite a journey.

[jennunicorn21 in reply to strawberryjam]

Yes, that is the study. I have been in great hands at UCSF and love that my oncologist is directly in the melanoma research field. The options will likely be either Yervoy or Opdivo. If those come up, I suggest Opdivo as it has less toxicity and has a higher rate of success. I have been on both drugs, Opdivo for a year now, soon to be done, yay! It is quite a journey, I agree, been 2 years for me, and I can finally see a light at the end. Hang in there.

[strawberryjam in reply to jennunicorn21]

Thanks for your encouragement . Best of everything to you .

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Good morning hope your son is doing well just wanted to ask if your son would like to talk on the site some times that really helps best wishes

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Good morning hope your son is doing well I had my lymph nodes removed at wilmont cancer center in Rochester ny just wanted to ask if your son wanted to talk on the site sometimes it is good stress relief best wishes