Gonadal function in adolescents receiving different conditioning regimens for bone marrow transplantation

It has been reported that gonadal function may be impaired by either chemotherapy or radiotherapy (1). Factor responsible for untoward endocrine side effects include the drugs employed during the conditioning regimens, their dosage and the patient's age at marrow transplant. Total body irradiation (TBI) associated with alkylating agents, usually cyclophospamide (CY), has been used as - conditioning regimen before bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for children affected by malignancies (2, 3). Alternative myeloblative therapy consisting of CY, Busulfan (BU) or melphalan (L-PAM) instead of TBI, has been considered to avoid the late side effects of irradiation (4-6). Patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA) usually receive high doses of CY, sometimes associated with thoraco-abdominal irradiation (TAI) , as immunosuppressive therapy before BMT (7). The aim of our research was to study the influence of the alkylating agent therapy either alone or in combination with TBI on gonadal function during puberty.