Storage of Ovarian Tissue Enables Pregnancy After Cancer Treatment

A new report relates the successful retransplantation of cryopreserved ovarian tissue, and the subsequent birth of a healthy child.

Researchers at the University of Erlangen (Germany), Universitätsklinikum Bonn (Germanye), and other institutions described the case report of a 25-year-old female patient who received initial chemotherapy and radiation of the mediastinum for Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2003, and suffered a relapse two years later. Ovarian tissue was removed laparoscopically and then cryopreserved, and she was then treated with high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation. The patient remained in remission for five years and she could not conceive during this time.

The cryopreserved ovarian tissue was subsequently thawed and retransplanted into a peritoneal pouch in the ovarian fossa of the right pelvic wall. Three months later, her menopausal symptoms resolved, and she had her first spontaneous menstruation. Six months after the retransplantation, and after two normal menstrual cycles, low-dose follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) treatment induced the appearance of a dominant follicle in the tissue graft. Ovulation was then induced with human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), whereupon the patient conceived naturally.

After an uncomplicated pregnancy, she bore a healthy child by Caesarean section during October 2011. Histological examination of biopsy specimens revealed that the ovarian tissue of the graft contained follicles in various stages of development, while the original ovaries contained only tissue structures without any reproductive potential. The case report was published in the January-February 2012 issue of Deutsches Arzteblatt International.

“This was the first live birth after retransplantation of cryopreserved ovarian tissue in Germany and also the first case with histological confirmation that the oocyte from which the patient conceived could only have come from the retransplanted tissue,” concluded lead author Prof. Andreas Müller, MD, and colleagues. “In general, young women who will be undergoing chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy for cancer must be informed and counseled about the available options for fertility preservation.”

Related Links:
University of Erlangen
Universitätsklinikum Bonn