Background: Non-obstructive azoospermia
(NOA) cases may have severely deficient
spermatogenesis and inadequate sperm production. Despite
increasing clinical investigations emphasizing the safety of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy in NOA cases, no article has
recently reviewed the adverse events and carcinogenicity after
transplantation.
Objective: the study was conducted to evaluate the safety and
potential carcinogenic effects of autologous human bone marrow- MSCs implanted into the testes of patients with NOA.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted
throughout the period from January2017 to January 2022,
encompassed 100 patients aged 20-40 years with primary infertility, with NOA for at least 2 years duration who had a con-
firmed diagnosis of NOA, based on two separate semen analyses
showing azoospermia with centrifugation, conducted at least
three months apart. Patients were submitted to intratesticular
transplantation of autologous bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Records of all participants were examined to
acquire the demographic data of patients, laboratory investigations including β-HCG, ECG, AFP, LDH, and scrotal ultrasound
examination.
Results: there is no significant malignancy or cancer occurrence
post- MSCs therapy as indicated by the normal level of the
tumor marker levels for LDH (183.4 ± 31.5) u/L, AFP (3.16 ±
1.6) ng/ ml, CEA (2.27 ± 1.1) ng/ ml, and β-HCG (0.95 ± 0.2)
mIU/mL. Additionally, scrotal ultrasound showed no focal findings in all cases.
Conclusions: there is no carcinogenic effect of mesenchymal stem
cells implanted into testes.