Hope for patients made infertile by chemo

BALTIMORE, Md. — Cancer patients made infertile by chemotherapy have been offered new hope after scientists succeeded in reversing damage caused to eggs.

The breakthrough, hailed as “phenomenal” by fertility experts, was made by researchers from Egypt and the U.S., who said that injecting stem cells into ovaries can bring them back to life.

Though the landmark procedure has been carried out only in mice, the results were so successful researchers say they are ready to move to human trials. Mice, who had suffered ovarian failure from chemotherapy, were able after treatment to have large litters.

Chemotherapy is toxic to the ovaries, destroying eggs and ovarian tissue while triggering early menopause in some women. Many younger women are advised to freeze their eggs before undergoing the treatment, but in urgent cases there is not the time.

The treatment could help women of child-bearing age who are diagnosed with cancer, and it also could assist those suffering from early menopause and ovarian failure.

Lead researcher Dr. Sara Mohamed of Mansoura Medical School in Egypt came up with the idea after meeting a 22-year-old cancer patient who was at risk of infertility from chemotherapy.

“It was a very emotional for me so I decided to pursue it and work on it,” Mohamed said. “We injected stem cells in the ovaries of mice which had chemotherapy and were damaged and we got very good ovarian function restoration.

“We are now working on translating that into clinical trials (for humans).”

Consultant gynecologist Dr. Stuart Lavery of Imperial College London called it “a very exciting piece of research that adds to our understanding of how cells differentiate to become egg stem cells.”

He said it provides realistic hope that post-chemotherapy patients could “restore ovarian function and possibly fertility.”