O-306 Sperm DNA methylome changes in testicular cancer patients following chemotherapy treatment
Authors: Quera Roldan M , Peña Chilet M , Picon Majon R , Pacheco A , Amoros D , Lujan S , Garrido Puchalt N , Esbert Algam M 
Published: July 2024

Study question

Does chemotherapy (CT) treatment for testicular cancer induce sperm methylome changes?

Summary answer

The analysis of 27 pre- and post-CT samples from testicular cancer survivors identified 65 differentially methylated regions.

What is known already

Research has shown that cancer treatment can cause DNA damage and aneuploidy in sperm, even years after the treatment. However, there is limited information available on the impact of CT on the sperm epigenome, and most of the information has been obtained from rodent models. Two recent studies, one involving one patient and the other involving three, have investigated this topic in humans. Both studies have suggested that cancer survivors may experience changes in sperm’s DNA methylation following oncological treatment.

Study design, size, duration

This is a multicenter prospective study. We included 27 patients [31.23 years (CI 95% 29.29-33.17)] diagnosed with testicular cancer who cryopreserved semen before CT (2009-2020). After receiving oncological treatment, these patients recovered their spermatogenesis. Patients who agreed to participate in this IRB-approved study, donated a second semen sample after their recovery, which was also frozen.

Participants/materials, setting, methods

Semen samples were thawed; sperm DNA was isolated and subsequently hybridized using the Human Infinitum DNA Methylation 850K EPIC BeadChip array platform (Illumina). A paired differential methylation analysis was performed between pre-CT and post-CT samples from the same patient, fitting a linear model of the methylated positions and regions. Minfi and DMRcate R packages were used to find differentially methylated positions (DMPs) and regions (DMRs). Subsequently, the functional impact of involved genes was evaluated.

Main results and the role of chance

DNA methylation data were available for the 54 sperm samples (27 collected before CT and 27 after CT treatment). Results were controlled by age and time elapsed between the cryopreservation of pre-CT and post-CT samples, which was 4.01 years (CI 95%: 3.42-5.64).

After filtering for initial QC, the assessment was done on 445.000 CpGs per sample. The analysis revealed that a total of 228 CpG positions showed a tendency towards statistical significance. DMRcate identified 65 DMRs (40 hypomethylated and 25 hypermethylated) that reached a smoothed FDR p-value &lt; 0.05 when compared post-CT samples to pre-CT within the same patient.

We observed that 61 genes were located within DMRs, being TBC1D20, EN1, HOXB1 and SCNN1A the ones within the most significant DMRs (min-smoothed-FDR &lt; 0.001).

The functional enrichment analysis of putatively affected genes revealed that the biological processes more affected were: Regulation of macromolecule biosynthetic process, hormone receptor binding, signaling pathways regulating pluripotency of stem cells and pathways in cancer.

Limitations, reasons for caution

Epigenetics may be affected during cryopreservation and thawing. To ensure comparability, we also froze the samples after undergoing the CT process. Due to the high-throughput nature of the study and the limited access to samples, we only achieved marginal significance. Therefore, our results should be further validated.

Wider implications of the findings

This is the largest study suggesting distinct sperm DNA methylation signatures in testicular cancer survivors. Our findings emphasize the importance of counseling cancer patients in pretreatment sample collection and may explain the reported increase in birth defects after treatment.

Trial registration number

NOT APPLICABLE