TORONTO -- Scientists have long been searching for a way to preserve fertility in young boys who undergo cancer treatments and may be unable to father a child later in life. That's because chemotherapy and radiation can destroy the stem cells in the testes that give rise to sperm with the onset of puberty.
Now researchers, using macaque monkeys, have shown that small samples of testicular tissue that have been frozen can be thawed and re-implanted following chemotherapy to begin producing sperm.
The success in monkeys raises hope that the technique might one day be safely used in human males left infertile by life-saving treatment for cancer, say researchers, whose work is described in the November issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, published Thursday.
"This demonstrates in an animal model that in fact it's feasible," said principal researcher Kyle Orwig, director of the fertility preservation program at the University of Pittsburgh.
Not only were most of the animals able to produce sperm cells, but sperm from one macaque was able to fertilize the eggs from female macaques, he added.
The monkey eggs were fertilized in the lab and allowed to grow through cell pision only to the point in which they would have been able to implant in the female animal's uterine wall. There were no live macaque offspring produced.
Not all cancer therapy leads to permanent infertility -- that depends on the type and dose of chemo drugs used, as well as the areas of the body targeted by radiation.
Still, uncertainty about one's ability to have a family in the future is no trivial matter for childhood cancer patients, most of whom must contend with a range of adverse health effects arising from treatment, often for the rest of their lives.
"Cancer patients report that their fertility status has a major impact on their quality of life, both in terms of their psychological well-being, but also their ability to develop relationships," Orwig said.
In fact, there are several clinics around the world that have preserved testicular tissue from pre-pubescent boys subsequently treated for cancer, "in anticipation that (their) stem cells can be used in the future to achieve a pregnancy," he said.
Read more:
Stem cells reverse chemo-induced infertility in monkeys: Next step humans?
