NEW YORK — A team of U.S. researchers has implanted ovarian tissue as a graft in a patient rendered infertile by cancer. The tissue was frozen and stored for six years, implanted in the woman's abdomen and is functioning like a healthy ovary and producing female eggs.
Dr. Kutluk Oktay, of the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility of New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, told reporters that although an attempt at in vitro fertilization failed with the eggs produced by the tissue, the tissue continues to function normally a year after the surgery. He said that he expects to end the experiment in a pregnancy for the formerly infertile woman.
The researchers have been moving forward with the ovarian grafting technique which has been used to restore a former cancer patient's menstrual cycle. However, it is clear that, as with most of the new fertility research breakthroughs, the ethical implications of the technique have yet to be fully thought through. The Edmonton Journal reports that the technique is anticipated to allow women to continue their childbearing years long after the onset of natural menopause. It is anticipated that the procedure may one day help replenish an older woman's egg supply.
Oktay said that the treatment should only be applied for medical reasons, to restore fertility in women suffering from cancer-related sterility. Dr. Oktay stressed that, “for now,” it should not be considered a way to indefinitely postpone childbirth. However, betraying a lack of full understanding of the ethical implications of his research, he went on to say that if researchers can find a way to do it “easily, safely and simply,” and with “reasonable” pregnancy rates, “I can foresee this would happen in the future. It may be possible to do this to help enrich ovarian reserve in those patients, but we do not recommend this at this time.”
See also:
Human Embryo Created Using Ovarian Tissue
(This update courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)
