ClinicalTrials.gg
Status unknownNCT04554030Updated Sep 18, 2020

Impact of Immunotherapy on the Sperm Count of Patients With Cancer

An observational study in Sperm Count, Low, sponsored by Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires. Status unknown at 1 site in Argentina. Open to male participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-09-18.

Sponsored by Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires · Observational

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Sep 2020), so the status shown — last known as Recruiting — may be out of date.
Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
30
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
Male
01

Study summary

Cancer is a public health problem. In recent years, oncology has been revolutionized with the advent of new treatments for different tumor models, mainly immunotherapy directed against cell cycle control points. Numerous inhibitory pathways are incorporated into the immune system to maintain tolerance and homeostasis, and these are collectively known as immunological checkpoints.

The main function of immunological checkpoints is to protect tissues from damage when the immune system is responding to pathogens and maintain tolerance to self antigens (ie, prevent autoimmunity). This is mainly achieved by down-regulation of T cell activation or effector functions. There is increasing evidence to show that a primary mechanism by which tumors evade the immune system is through the participation of immunological checkpoints. This has stimulated the development of many novel agents that modulate immunological checkpoints or other costimulatory receptors.

CTLA-4 is the first receptor of the checkpoint that is successfully selected as immunotherapy. Ipilimumab, an anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody, was the first immunological checkpoint inhibitor to receive FDA approval for the treatment of advanced melanoma.

On the other hand, PD-1 is another receptor for the immune control point, and its ligands, the programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and PD-L2, also resulted in important therapeutic advances in cancer immunotherapy.

Unlike CTLA-4, PD-1 is widely expressed and can be found in, in addition to T cells, in B cells and natural killer (NK) cells. The main function of PD-1 is to limit the activity of T cells in peripheral tissues during an inflammatory immune response.

The tumors can exploit this control point, expressing the ligand PD-L1 and generating that the cytotoxic T lymphocytes and the NK cells are anergic and incapable of killing. This up-regulation mechanism of PD-L1 is known in tumors such as melanoma, lung and ovary. Several monoclonal antibodies directed to PD-1 have already received approvals for their clinical use as Nivolumab and Pembrolizumab.

Read the detailed description

The toxic effect of cytostatics (chemotherapy) at the gonadal level is known, but the effect that anti PD-1 immunotherapy can have on the spermogram of oncological patients at the level of the blood-testicular barrier, endocrine axis, among others, is not known. The proinflammatory mechanisms of immunotherapy could incur in damage evidenced as quali-quantitative alterations of the spermogram.

Primary end point:

To evaluate the difference in spermogram (counting, functionality, vitality, mobility) before and after treatment with anti-PD1 immunotherapy first line of oncological treatment of adult patients

Secondary end point:

Evaluate the association adjusted for nutrition, endocrine disorders. Evaluate modifications in the sexual functionality of patients through validated sexuality questionnaires before and during treatment.

In the absence of information, according to the results obtained, cryopreservation prior to the start of treatment could be taken into consideration.

Design: Observational prospective cohort with a single group. With start of follow-up from the oncological diagnosis of patients who are in the process of starting treatment with immunotherapy, checkpoint inhibitors in first line setting. The spermogram samples will be performed: 2 baseline before the start of the drug and +/- 5 days of the start of the treatment, separated by at least 2 weeks. Subsequent samples will be taken 3, 6 and 12 months after the start of treatment.

02

Conditions studied

  • Sperm Count, Low

Browse trials for

03

In context

Oligospermia

64 studies on the registry are indexed under Oligospermia; 17 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 30 is below the median of 300 across 17 observational studies indexed under Oligospermia.

Browse Oligospermia studies →

Lead sponsor

Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires is the lead sponsor of 133 studies on the registry; 24 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
Male
Accepts healthy volunteers
No
Sampling method
Probability sample

Study population

Men on treatment with immunotherapy with check point inhibitors for cancer disease.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

Diagnosis of cancer with indication for treatment with immunotherapy.

05

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
30 participants (estimated)
Patient registry
No

Interventions

  • BehavioralEvaluate sperm count before and after immunotherapy

    Evaluate sperm count before and after immunotherapy

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. To evaluate the difference in the spermogram before and after immunotherapy exposure

    To determine differences in sperm count before and after exposure to immunotherapy. Count measured in cells / mm3

    Time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 18, 2020, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04554030
Responsible party
JOSE NICOLAS MINATTA (Principal investigator, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires) — Principal investigator
First posted
Sep 18, 2020
Start date
Jan 2, 2020
Primary completion
Sep 30, 2021 (estimated)
Completion
Aug 30, 2022 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 18, 2020

Study contacts

Nicolas Minatta, MD
Contact
jose.minatta@hiba.org.ar
+5491138018573
Diego Giunta, PHD
Contact
diego.giunta@hospitalitaliano.org.ar
+4591149590200

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is status unknown, as verified in Sep 2020. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion