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Cutaneous Melanoma and Hormones: Focus on Sex Differences and the Testis

Cutaneous melanoma, the most aggressive type of skin cancer, remains one the most represented forms of cancer in the United States and European countries, representing, in Australia, the primary cause of cancer-related deaths. Recently, many studies have shown that sex disparities previously observe...

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Autores principales: Cosci, Ilaria, Grande, Giuseppe, Di Nisio, Andrea, Rocca, Maria Santa, Del Fiore, Paolo, Benna, Clara, Mocellin, Simone, Ferlin, Alberto
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9820190/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36614041
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms24010599
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author Cosci, Ilaria
Grande, Giuseppe
Di Nisio, Andrea
Rocca, Maria Santa
Del Fiore, Paolo
Benna, Clara
Mocellin, Simone
Ferlin, Alberto
author_facet Cosci, Ilaria
Grande, Giuseppe
Di Nisio, Andrea
Rocca, Maria Santa
Del Fiore, Paolo
Benna, Clara
Mocellin, Simone
Ferlin, Alberto
author_sort Cosci, Ilaria
collection PubMed
description Cutaneous melanoma, the most aggressive type of skin cancer, remains one the most represented forms of cancer in the United States and European countries, representing, in Australia, the primary cause of cancer-related deaths. Recently, many studies have shown that sex disparities previously observed in most cancers are particularly accentuated in melanoma, where male sex is consistently associated with an increased risk of disease progression and a higher mortality rate. The causes of these sex differences rely on biological mechanisms related to sex hormones, immune homeostasis and oxidative processes. The development of newer therapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) (i.e., anti–PD-1 and anti–CTLA-4 monoclonal antibodies) has dramatically changed the treatment landscape of metastatic melanoma patients, though ICIs can interfere with the immune response and lead to inflammatory immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Recently, some studies have shown a potential adverse influence of this immunotherapy treatment also on male fertility and testicular function. However, while many anticancer drugs are known to cause defects in spermatogenesis, the effects of ICIs therapy remain largely unknown. Notwithstanding the scarce and conflicting information available on this topic, the American Society of Clinical Oncology guidelines recommend sperm cryopreservation in males undergoing ICIs. As investigations regarding the long-term outcomes of anticancer immunotherapy on the male reproductive system are still in their infancy, this review aims to support and spur future research in order to understand a potential gonadotoxic effect of ICIs on testicular function, spermatogenesis and male fertility.
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spelling pubmed-98201902023-01-07 Cutaneous Melanoma and Hormones: Focus on Sex Differences and the Testis Cosci, Ilaria Grande, Giuseppe Di Nisio, Andrea Rocca, Maria Santa Del Fiore, Paolo Benna, Clara Mocellin, Simone Ferlin, Alberto Int J Mol Sci Review Cutaneous melanoma, the most aggressive type of skin cancer, remains one the most represented forms of cancer in the United States and European countries, representing, in Australia, the primary cause of cancer-related deaths. Recently, many studies have shown that sex disparities previously observed in most cancers are particularly accentuated in melanoma, where male sex is consistently associated with an increased risk of disease progression and a higher mortality rate. The causes of these sex differences rely on biological mechanisms related to sex hormones, immune homeostasis and oxidative processes. The development of newer therapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) (i.e., anti–PD-1 and anti–CTLA-4 monoclonal antibodies) has dramatically changed the treatment landscape of metastatic melanoma patients, though ICIs can interfere with the immune response and lead to inflammatory immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Recently, some studies have shown a potential adverse influence of this immunotherapy treatment also on male fertility and testicular function. However, while many anticancer drugs are known to cause defects in spermatogenesis, the effects of ICIs therapy remain largely unknown. Notwithstanding the scarce and conflicting information available on this topic, the American Society of Clinical Oncology guidelines recommend sperm cryopreservation in males undergoing ICIs. As investigations regarding the long-term outcomes of anticancer immunotherapy on the male reproductive system are still in their infancy, this review aims to support and spur future research in order to understand a potential gonadotoxic effect of ICIs on testicular function, spermatogenesis and male fertility. MDPI 2022-12-29 /pmc/articles/PMC9820190/ /pubmed/36614041 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms24010599 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Cosci, Ilaria
Grande, Giuseppe
Di Nisio, Andrea
Rocca, Maria Santa
Del Fiore, Paolo
Benna, Clara
Mocellin, Simone
Ferlin, Alberto
Cutaneous Melanoma and Hormones: Focus on Sex Differences and the Testis
title Cutaneous Melanoma and Hormones: Focus on Sex Differences and the Testis
title_full Cutaneous Melanoma and Hormones: Focus on Sex Differences and the Testis
title_fullStr Cutaneous Melanoma and Hormones: Focus on Sex Differences and the Testis
title_full_unstemmed Cutaneous Melanoma and Hormones: Focus on Sex Differences and the Testis
title_short Cutaneous Melanoma and Hormones: Focus on Sex Differences and the Testis
title_sort cutaneous melanoma and hormones: focus on sex differences and the testis
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9820190/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36614041
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms24010599
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