R.C. Anderson
New Method Allows Ovarian Cancer Patients to Have Children
September 11th 2008 13:33
Typically, the tissue itself won’t survive the freezing that must occur to preserve the tissue unless it has been fertilized by a male. This is often not an option for women without a partner or girls who are already traumatized by their disease and upcoming treatment. Donnez, however, has found a way to sample the ovarian tissue without fertilization, freeze it and re-implant the tissue years later, when the patient has recovered.
So far, Donnez has published an article describing five women who underwent this procedure. Ranging from 21 to 28, the five women had their ovarian tissue sampled and preserved. The tissue was preserved by freezing it at -196°C and keeping it in this state for five years, until doctors could be sure the patients were healthy and that their cancer had not recurred.
After this ovarian tissue was re-implanted at least five years later, it began to function normally in approximately four to five months. In 2004 Donnez published an article announcing one of these women had become pregnant 11 months after the surgery to re-implant her ovarian tissue. She went on to give birth to a healthy baby girl. Although Donnez cautions that this procedure works best on women younger than 35 years old, he believes it holds much hope for future ovarian cancer patients.
So far, six healthy pregnancies have been reported throughout the world. Donnez hopes that more doctors will accept this technique as an ethically imperative one which will allow women to preserve their ability to have children and as a result, begin suggesting the treatment more rigorously.
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