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Scientists are approaching the search for a way to avoid fertility problems in children diagnosed with cancer before puberty.
In a new study, a team from the University of Pittsburgh's Faculty of Medicine and the Magee-Women's Research Institute said that testicular tissue can be cryopreserved and then restored in the same body later in the life.
The experiment, which involved monkeys, gave birth to offspring, which allowed scientists to believe that the same procedure could be performed in humans in the future.
The researchers reveal
the exciting discovery of science
.
First baby monkey born with a cryopreserved testicle
More children survive childhood cancer
. However, many of them, nearly one in three, will remain sterile
after the radiation
and chemotherapy.
Young adults diagnosed with the disease can freeze their sperm, eggs or embryos before starting treatment. However, children who have not yet gone through puberty can not do the same thing because they do not yet produce mature sperm or eggs.
The new study gives hope that boys on the verge of cancer treatment will have a chance to become a father in the future.
"We grew up in families ourselves and imagined that many of us were dreaming of growing up and having our own family," he said.
Kyle Orwig, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive science at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He is also one of the authors of the study. "This breakthrough is an important step in giving young cancer patients around the world a chance to start a family."
Orwig and his team developed a non-human model of cancer survival in prepubertal rhesus macaques. Before submitting the monkeys to therapy, the researchers removed one of his testicles and cryopreserved it. As the monkeys approached puberty, the other testicle was also removed. On the same day, the team grafted tissue fragments from both testicles under the skin of the animal.
When the monkeys reached puberty, their testosterone levels increased, leading to tissue maturation and sperm production. About eight to twelve months later, the researchers removed grafted tissue and found mature sperm.
The sperm was sent to the National Center for Research on Primates of Oregon, where a different team was generating embryos from monkeys. In April 2018, a healthy baby monkey was born.
Solving fertility problems among childhood cancer survivors
Similar procedures have been performed and have been shown to be effective in other animals, including laboratory mice. However, the researchers also noted that in the non-human primate model, they grafted larger pieces of testicular tissue.
They hope that the success of the new study will lead to tests on human patients.
"Having produced a live and healthy newborn baby, we believe it is a technology ready to be clinically tested," added Orwig.
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