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A team of scientists from Copenhagen managed to produce an artificial ovary. The goal is to give women who have been diagnosed with cancer the opportunity to conceive a child.
The use of cancer treatments, such as chemo and radiotherapy, can damage the ovaries, making women infertile. In this way, women diagnosed with cancer can preserve their fertility in two ways.
One option is to freeze your eggs and, as soon as the woman is cured of cancer, try in vitro fertilization. The second technique involves transferring tissue from the ovaries: some of the tissue is removed before the woman is treated for cancer, then frozen and reimplanted
. However, this second option carries some risks. Because ovarian tissue is removed before cancer treatment, there is a probability of containing malignant cells. When relocating this tissue, it is feared that the woman could return to cancer.
The risk of such an event is low. However, women with uterine cancers or leukemia can not receive this type of transplant.
Implant still tested only in the rat
Susanne Pors, co-author of the study, think that artificial ovaries can be a safer solution. To produce them, scientists have taken ovaries from women about to start a cancer treatment and remove all cells from the tissue.
Subsequently, scientists implanted in this "structure" follicles (small saccular cells) that store the eggs until they are released.
These artificial ovaries have already been implanted in rats. His system was able to support 20 human follicles, and after three weeks, a quarter of the follicles had survived.
"This is the first evidence that we have been able to develop these cells.It is an important step in the development of the technique," said Pors at The Guardian newspaper .
Despite the importance of the step, the scientist admits that "it will take several years before we can implant these ovaries in a woman." According to statements made to The Guardian . [19659002] For the moment, the group of scientists presents its results on Monday at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Barcelona
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