Ovarian tissue cryopreservation

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy, pelvic radiotherapy (including total body irradiation) and novel compounds used to treat children and teenagers with benign or malignant diseases can lead to impaired fertility. For prepubertal female patients at high risk of treatment-related infertility, upfront storage of ovarian tissue is increasingly being recognised as standard of care. No surgical guidelines exist to ensure best practice technique. We reviewed current UK practice to assess surgical management...

PURPOSE: To preserve fertility before gonadotoxic therapy, ovarian tissue can be removed, cryopreserved, and transplanted back again after treatment. An alternative is the artificial ovary, in which the ovarian follicles are extracted from the tissue, which reduces the risk of reimplantation of potentially remaining malignant cells. The PTEN inhibitor bpV(HOpic) has been shown to activate human, bovine and alpacas ovarian follicles, and it is therefore considered a promising substance for developing the artificial ovary...

The management of young patients with cancer presents several unique challenges. In general, these patients are ill prepared for the diagnosis and the impact on their fertility. With the improved survival for all tumour types and stages, the need for adequate fertility counselling and a multidisciplinary approach in the reproductive care of these patients is paramount. Recent advances in cryopreservation techniques allow for the banking of spermatozoa, oocytes, embryos and ovarian tissue without compromising survival...

BACKGROUND: Girls with Turner syndrome (TS) lack a partial or complete sex chromosome, which causes an accelerated decline of their ovarian reserve. Girls have to deal with several dilemmas related to their fertility, while only a limited number of them are referred to a fertility specialist and counselled about options of family planning on time. OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE: This scoping review provides an update of the literature on fertility in girls with TS throughout their lifespan and aims to propose a clinical practice guideline on fertility in TS...

PURPOSE: Despite the increasing number of childhood cancer survivors, significant advances in ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) technique and medical societies' recommendations, fertility preservation (FP) and FP discussions are not always offered as a standard of care in the pediatric context. The aim of this literature review is to understand what ethical, legal, social, and policy issues may influence the provision of FP by OTC in prepubertal girls with cancer. METHODS: A critical interpretive review of peer-reviewed papers published between 2000 and January 2023 was conducted, guided by the McDougall's version of the critical interpretive synthesis (Dixon-Woods), to capture recurring concepts, principles, and arguments regarding FP by OTC for prepubertal girls...

Many feline species are currently threatened with extinction. Therefore, germplasm bank establishment has become imperative. However, cryoinjury and ischemia-reperfusion injury pose significant obstacles to both cryopreservation and xenotransplantation. In this regard, erythropoietin (Epo) represents a potential alternative strategy due to its properties. This study aimed to assess the incubation of domestic cat ovarian tissue in Epo, both before and after cryopreservation, and investigate its effectiveness in promoting revascularization following xenotransplantation...

Fertility preservation (FP) is the use of a specific medical intervention to protect the fertility of individuals whose disease or disease treatment may lead to infertility. These medical interventions include the cryopreservation of oocytes, embryos, ovarian tissue, sperm, and testicular tissue; oocyte and embryo cryopreservation are the most widely used interventions in the United States. Although guidelines recommend FP prior to undergoing gonadotoxic treatments, cost barriers are high. For example, the average cost of an oocyte cryopreservation cycle in the United States exceeds $10,000...

Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), also known as premature menopause or premature ovarian failure, signifies the partial or complete loss of ovarian endocrine function and fertility before 40 years of age. This condition affects approximately 1% of women of childbearing age. Although 5-10% of patients may conceive naturally, conventional infertility treatments, including assisted reproductive technology, often prove ineffective for the majority. For infertile patients with POI, oocyte donation or adoption exist, although a prevalent desire persists among them to have biological children...

STUDY QUESTION: Does a matrix-free culture system supplemented with neurotrophic factor 4 (NT4) improve human in vitro follicular development and meiotic maturation, ultimately resulting in fertilizable oocytes? SUMMARY ANSWER: NT4 supplementation of in vitro culture significantly enhances the growth, steroid hormone production, and maturity potential of human secondary follicles derived from fresh ovarian medulla (from post- and pre-pubertal patients), thereby yielding fertilizable oocytes...

PURPOSE: To describe the experience of performing ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), among girls/women with severe sickle cell disease (SCD)(SS or S/β0 -thalassemia) who are, besides the usual surgical risk, at risk of SCD-related complications during the fertility preservation procedure for improving their counseling and management. METHODS: This retrospective study included 75 patients (girls/women) with SCD who have had OTC before myeloablative conditioning regimen (MAC) for HSCT...

PURPOSE: Ovarian tissue cryopreservation is vital for fertility preservation, yet its effect on ovarian tissue follicle survival and transcriptomic signature requires further investigation. This study delves into the effects of vitrification on tissue morphology, function, and transcriptomic changes, helping to find possibilities for vitrification protocol improvements. METHODS: Ovarian cortex from 19 bovine animals were used to conduct pre- and post-vitrification culture followed by histological assessment, immunohistochemistry, and TUNEL assay...

Ovarian tissue autotransplantation is an innovative fertility preservation technique that has provoked ongoing investigations. The purpose of the present study was to assess the safety and reproductive performance of ovarian tissue autotransplantation. This review is conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. Seven studies met the inclusion criteria. A total of 3427 patients underwent ovarian tissue cryopreservation and 205 received an autotransplantation. Tissue retrieval was mainly performed by laparoscopy and only one major complication occurred...

Ovarian tissue cryopreservation is gaining importance as a successful method to restore fertility to girls and young women at high risk of sterility. However, there are concerns regarding the safety of transplantation after ovarian tissue cryopreservation due to the high risk of reintroducing cancer cells and causing disease recurrence. In these cases, the development of culture systems that support oocyte development from the primordial follicle stage is required. Notable achievements have been reached in human follicle in vitro growth in the past decade...

Cryopreservation and reimplantation of human ovarian tissue restore the ovarian hormonal function and fertility due to the preservation of follicles. As the success depends on proper angiogenesis, different approaches aim to support this process. In mice, pretreatment of ovarian tissue with FSH shows increased follicular numbers probably due to the supported angiogenesis by an increased vascular endothelial factor (VEGF) expression. However, in human tissue it remains completely unclear, which effect the hormonal status of the patient has at the time point of reimplantation...

Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) refers to the decline of ovarian function before the age of 40. POI causes a reduction in or loss of female fertility, accompanied by different degrees of menopausal symptoms, which increases the risk of chronic diseases related to early menopause and seriously affects patients' quality of life and health. It is conservatively estimated that at least one million prepubertal girls and women of reproductive age in China are at risk of iatrogenic POI caused by radiotherapy and chemotherapy every year...

INTRODUCTION: Long survivors after childhood cancer are increasing thanks to oncological improvements. Their quality of life and fertility-sparing should be considered in the early phases of each oncological pathway. Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue removed before starting gonadotoxic therapies is the only fertility sparing procedure available for prepubertal children affected by cancer and it does not affect the timing of the start of the treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study shows the surgical and clinical outcomes following laparoscopic ovarian tissue collection (LOTC) for a total of 311 patients aged between 0 and 17 years old from four different European Centers...

BACKGROUND: Fertility preservation for adolescent pubescent girls is a concern of the healthcare system and parents. Oocyte cryopreservation is regarded as a standard medical intervention for patients with a minimum age of 18 years. Evidence suggests that mature oocyte cryopreservation is possible for adolescent pubescent girls, although, ovarian stimulation for these patients remains a challenge. CASES PRESENTATION: This case series is the first report regarding ovarian stimulation with oocyte cryopreservation in younger than 18 years cancerous girls, who refer to ROYAN institute, Tehran, Iran, prior to the start of the treatment of cancer (November 2015 to February 2021)...

Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is one of many potential long-term consequences of childhood cancer treatment in females. Causes of POI in this patient population can include chemotherapy, especially alkylating agents, and radiation therapy. Rarely, ovarian tumors lead to ovarian dysfunction. POI can manifest as delayed pubertal development, irregular menses or amenorrhea, and infertility. This diagnosis often negatively impacts emotional health due to the implications of impaired ovarian function after already enduring treatment for a primary malignancy...

PURPOSE: To clarify the reproductive outcomes of fertility preservation (FP) treatment. METHODS: We conducted a mailed-in questionnaire survey at institutions certified by the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology to investigate the number of oocyte cryopreservations (OC) and ovarian tissue cryopreservations (OTC) performed from December 2016 to the end of 2020. And, we conducted a detailed investigation of cases in which frozen specimens were used during the investigation period, and made historical comparisons with previous nationwide studies...

Cervical cancer is frequently diagnosed in women during their reproductive years, and fertility preservation is an essential part of their cancer treatment. In highly selected patients with early stage, low-risk cervical cancer and a tumor size ≤ 2 cm, several treatment strategies can be offered for patients wishing to preserve fertility, including radical/simple trachelectomy or conization with pelvic lymph node assessment. Trachelectomy can be performed through a vaginal, abdominal, or minimally invasive approach and has been shown to have an equivalent oncologic outcome compared to radical hysterectomy...