Effect on DNAs after a chemotherapy

silverlines · New User Joined: 24 May 2008 Posts: 1

My age is 30 now. I had undergone chemotherapy four years back. I was diagnosed with APL(Acute Promyeloid Leukemia). I got cured by that time and also undergone oral maintenance for 2 years. ATRA was used in combination with chemo during the treatment and ATRA was also continued to be taken for maintenance for 2 years. FISH RARA and RT-PCR reports are negative since then.
I haven't fallen sick or faced any problems after that. Now my query is DNAs must have been damaged and might have been repaired. What would be the impact of DNAs now over my reproduction ability.
Is it so that a child may born abnormal?
Is there any test that would tell me about my DNAs and reproduction reliability?
Help will be highly appreciated.

brainman

silverlines, I am very sorry about your cancer but happy that you are a survivor.

I think you are talking about two different things when you say DNA. I do not think chemo has done any damage to most of your cells... that is part of the question.

The other part is "does chemo affect the DNA of reproductive cells?" That is a possibility to which I do not have an answer. Some chemotherapy agents do cause mutations in the DNA of reproductive cells. My advice is to talk with your own medical team or to a pharmacist. Pharmacists are a good source of information about medications since that is their area of knowledge.

You also might want to speak with a geneticist before trying to have a baby.

Good luck and keep us informed.
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chiledude · New User Joined: 27 Apr 2009 Posts: 4

I had APL too. I had ATRA, idarubicin, mitoxantrone, mercaptopurine, and methotrexate.

I too was concerned about the effects of all that stuff on my sperm's DNA. I went to several doctors to ask about risks and probabilities, etc. They all said there should be no harm to the DNA (even though sperm count is lowered) but of course they couldn't guarantee it.

So, we got to work and had a baby girl. She's just fine.

karlkiongson · New User Joined: 19 Aug 2009 Posts: 1

Good Luck silverline. We pray for your survival.

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