Title:Effects of Anticancer Drugs in Reproductive Parameters of Juvenile Male Animals and Role of Protective Agents
Volume: 17
Issue: 9
Author(s): Juliana Elaine Perobelli*
Affiliation:
- Instituto do Mar, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Campus Baixada Santista; Rua Carvalho de Mendonça, 144, 11070-102, Santos, SP,Brazil
Keywords:
Anticancer drugs, juvenile male animals, reproductive toxicology, protective agents, toposide, cisplatin.
Abstract: Nowadays, the advances in knowledge about oncologic treatment have led to an increase in survival
rate for cancer patients and, consequently, a growing concern about the adverse effects of treatment in medium
and long term, in order to ensure the future quality of life. For male patients in reproductive age or younger, one
of the key concerns after cancer therapy is their ability to father children, since anticancer drugs exert cytotoxic
effects on germ cells. Considering the incidence of cancer in children and adolescents and the vulnerability of
these developmental phases to chemical injuries, this review is an attempt to highlight the importance of juvenile
experimental models to test new anticancer drugs and agents with protective action. There is a relative scarcity of
studies investigating the effects of chemotherapy in juvenile animals and an urgent need for further information.
As far as this review was able to recover, available data about reproductive toxicology related to peripubertal
treatment with anticancer drugs includes only the following pharmaceuticals: toposide, doxorrubicin, cisplatin,
ciclophosphamide, cytarabine, flutamide and procarbazine. Together with the evaluation of adverse effects of
anticancer drugs, is necessary to investigate possible protective agents to be pre-, co-, or post administrated with
chemotherapy. Modern technologies and increasing knowledge about the cancer biology have allowed studies of
new chemotherapy strategies, more effective and selective. Many of these compounds are derived from toxins and
metabolites of microorganisms, plants, and animals, being a number of them isolated from marine sources, a
relatively unexplored environment. Investment in research programs in bioprospecting, especially in marine
environments, and pharmaceutical field, including toxicology risk evaluation, are crucial to discovery and
improve new anticancer treatments.
