PET PET
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
Become a Friend Donate
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements
PETBioNewsNewsFreezing ovaries preserves fertility for cancer patients

BioNews

Freezing ovaries preserves fertility for cancer patients

Published 9 October 2015 posted in News and appears in BioNews 823

Author

Dr Rachel Montgomery

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.

A Danish study has reported that ovarian tissue transplants appear to be safe and can restore fertility in women who have undergone treatment for cancer, with around one in three procedures in young women leading to live births....

A Danish study has reported that ovarian tissue transplants appear to be safe and can restore fertility in women who have undergone treatment for cancer, with around one in three procedures in young women leading to live births.

The study, published in Human Reproduction, reviewed the outcomes of 41 Danish women who had a total of 53 transplantations of thawed ovarian tissue between 2003 and June 2014. Each had been followed for 10 years to assess ovarian function, fertility and the safety of the procedure.

Of the 32 women who had received ovarian transplants to become pregnant, 21 had obtained at least one positive pregnancy test (63 percent). Ten women have given birth to 14 healthy children between them. Eight were conceived naturally, and six as a result of IVF.

'As far as we know, this is the largest series of ovarian tissue transplantation performed worldwide, and these findings show that grafted ovarian tissue is effective in restoring ovarian function in a safe manner. In this series of women, the pregnancy rate was about 30 percent,' said Dr Annette Jensen, from the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark, who worked on the study. 'The fact that cancer survivors are now able to have a child of their own is an immense, quality-of-life boost for them.'

An ovarian transplantation programme has been available in Denmark since 2000. It allows women who are undergoing treatment for cancer, which can damage fertility, to freeze the tissue of one of their ovaries free of charge. The thawed tissue can then be transplanted back, either to the remaining ovary or elsewhere in the abdominal cavity, at a later date. It is hoped that doing so will restore fertility and normal levels of circulating sex hormones, which can prevent menopausal symptoms.

Since its introduction over 800 women have had their ovarian tissue frozen, but the technique remains in its infancy and requires further testing. 'As awareness of quality of life after cancer treatment has increased and techniques for removing, freezing, storing and then transplanting ovarian tissue have developed, fertility preservation is increasingly becoming an integral part of treatment. However, as ovarian transplantation is still in its early days, its efficacy and safety needs to be investigated,' Dr Jensen said.

One of the concerns of ovarian transplantation is that it will cause the cancer that prompted its removal to return. However, the study reported that although three patients did experience a relapse of cancer, none of these were related to the transplantation of ovarian tissue, and therefore the procedure is considered to be safe.

Another risk is presented by radiation to the abdomen, which can increase the risk of miscarriage, premature delivery and stillbirth. The number of women in the study experiencing spontaneous abortions in the first trimester was higher than expected but this is thought to reflect that pregnancy in cancer survivors is more difficult than in healthy women. In addition, there were two abortions and one woman experienced a miscarriage in her 19th week of pregnancy.

The transplanted tissue has been functional for over ten years in three women, eight years in six women, and more than five years in 15 women. The remaining patients have had transplanted tissue for between six months and five years. 'The full functional lifespan of grafts is still being evaluated because many of these women have ovaries that are continuing to function,' said Dr Jensen.

In the UK, ovarian tissue freezing is not currently routinely offered on the NHS. Dr Jensen has said that she hoped the study would 'enable this procedure to be regarded as an established method in other parts of the world'.

Speaking to The Guardian, Grete Brauten-Smith, a clinical nurse specialist at Breast Cancer Care, said: 'Chemotherapy treatment can cause infertility — a massive worry for thousands of younger women with breast cancer. So it is very encouraging to see these improving success rates for freezing ovarian tissue. This could, in future, offer another valuable option for those who face the devastating prospect of not being able to start or add to their family.'

Related Articles

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
10 July 2017 • 2 minutes read

Surviving cancer means lower pregnancy rates in women

by Mikey Lebrett

Female cancer survivors are 38 per cent less likely to become pregnant compared with women in the general population, according to a study presented at the annual European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Geneva...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
News
9 January 2017 • 2 minutes read

Eggs successfully grown from two-year-old cancer patient

by Dr Rosie Morley

A two-year-old girl has become the youngest person to undergo a new technique that could preserve her fertility after chemotherapy...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
News
9 January 2017 • 2 minutes read

First baby born using ovary frozen before puberty

by Dr Rosie Morley

A 24-year old has become the first woman to give birth after a transplant of ovarian tissue that was taken before puberty...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
16 August 2016 • 2 minutes read

Chemotherapy during pregnancy could affect daughters' fertility

by Dr Nicoletta Charolidi

A study has shown that the chemotherapy drug etoposide can affect the development of fetal ovarian tissue in mice...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
News
22 July 2016 • 3 minutes read

First baby born from frozen ovarian tissue in UK

by Rebecca Carr

A cancer patient in Edinburgh has become the first woman in the UK to have a child following a transplant of her frozen ovarian tissue...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
15 June 2015 • 2 minutes read

Baby born from ovarian tissue frozen during childhood

by Dr Julia Hill

A woman who has received a transplant of ovarian tissue stored when she was a child has given birth. It is believed to be the first time ovarian tissue taken from young girl has led to a successful pregnancy...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
7 October 2013 • 3 minutes read

Ovaries 'reawakened' and baby born to early menopause mother

by Dr Lucy Freem

A new treatment to stimulate egg production from post-menopausal ovaries has resulted in the successful birth of a child after testing in a small clinical trial...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
5 September 2013 • 2 minutes read

Pioneering ovarian tissue graft helps cancer survivor become pregnant

by Dr Daniel Grimes

A woman in Australia has become pregnant with her own eggs following an ovarian tissue transplant seven years after her ovaries were removed during cancer treatment....

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
News
21 February 2013 • 2 minutes read

Clinic for freezing ovarian tissue planned in the UK

by Marianne Kennedy

Women may soon be given the option of banking their ovarian tissue if a new clinic to offer the procedure opens in the UK. The technique allows women to freeze ovarian tissue containing eggs to use at a later date and could assist cancer patients and other women who hope to have children later in life....

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
30 November 2012 • 2 minutes read

Australia: successful pregnancy after 'groundbreaking' ovarian tissue transplant

by Dr Lucy Spain

A former cancer patient has become the first woman in Australia to become pregnant following the pioneering procedure of ovarian tissue transplantation...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

« Miniature kidneys grown from human skin cells

Data-Label The UK's Leading Supplier Of Medical Labels & Asset Labels

RetiringDentist.co.uk The UK's Leading M&A Company.
easyfundraising
amazon

This month in BioNews

  • Popular
  • Recent
13 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

Drop in diversity of blood stem cells leads to old-age health issues

5 July 2022 • 1 minute read

Anorexia in pregnancy linked to increased risk of complications

5 July 2022 • 2 minutes read

Pregnancy after breast cancer treatment does not increase risk of recurrence

5 July 2022 • 1 minute read

No difference between fresh and frozen sperm for IUI

4 July 2022 • 2 minutes read

Shorter IVF protocol reduces risk of OHSS

4 July 2022 • 2 minutes read

USA scrambles to understand implications of Roe v Wade on fertility industry

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
PET PET

PET is an independent charity that improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Navigation

  • About Us
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • BioNews
  • Events
  • Engagement
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us

BioNews

  • News
  • Comment
  • Reviews
  • Elsewhere
  • Topics
  • Glossary
  • Newsletters

Other

  • My Account
  • Subscribe

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856