Methods of ovarian tissue culturing for fertility preservation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
In Vitro Culture and Maturation of Ovarian Tissue and Follicles: Follicle Microenvironment Engineering as a tool to study folliculogenesis and provide fertility preservation.
IRAS ID
140150
Contact name
Muhammad Fatum
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Clinical Trials and Research Governance, University of Oxford
Research summary
Research Summary:
Increasingly, female patients survive a diagnosis of cancer and this, combined with the expectation and desire for reproductive options has fuelled a growing need for the development of fertility sparing techniques.
Currently there are several methods available to women hoping to preserve their fertility before starting cancer therapy (since chemotherapy or radiotherapy may render patients infertile). Most usually this takes the form of hormone stimulation and in vitro fertilization (IVF), followed by embryo cryopreservation. The main disadvantage of this process is the length of time it takes to stimulate the patients’ ovaries to produce enough eggs to freeze before the chemotherapy starts. Also it is not a possible method for children who have not yet reached puberty as they do not produce mature eggs.
A new technique has just started to be used in Oxford. This involves the storage of a small amount of tissue from the ovaries (the organs which produce eggs). This tissue is frozen and later, given correct conditions in a laboratory, stimulated to grow mature eggs. This is possible for very young children as well as adolescents and adult women.
The purpose of this study is to find what the best conditions for the tissue are and how these conditions can be improved to produce more eggs. This research will contribute to the on-going improvements in fertility preservation options. Our investigations will be carried out on human ovarian tissue, donated by women having suitable surgery or woman and children already having samples of their own ovarian tissue stored for their future fertility preservation. Participants will be recruited at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust site and participation extends to their donation of tissue only. The study is funded by a BBSRC grant and will last for 5 years.Summary of Results:
Two studies were published using tissues obtained from the Oxford Cell and Tissue Biobank (OCTB). Ovarian tissues were donated for research and cryopreserved by OCTB. These were thawed and cultured resulting in the development of small follicles.REC name
South Central - Oxford B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/SC/0041
Date of REC Opinion
5 Mar 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion