Studies show eggs can be preserved before treatment and put back later
Studies show eggs can be preserved before treatment and put back later
A city hospital which delivered the country's second test tube baby is now trying to preserve the ova or eggs of young cancer patients so that they can be transferred back to the ovaries after treatment.
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The experiment will be conducted by Dr Susheela Gunasheela, MD, Gunasheela IVF Centre in collaboration with Dr Ronit Abir, director (Fertility Preservation Programme and Research Laboratory), Helen Schneider Hospital for Women, Israel.
So far, in-vitro fertilisation with embryo cryopreservation has been used but not for all cancer patients. "Here, the embryo is created in a laboratory with the couple's eggs and spermatozoa. The resulting embryos are frozen in liquid nitrogen for future use. When the patient is cleared of cancer, these embryos can be released, thawed and transferred and one can expect a pregnancy rate of about 30 per cent per transfer," said Dru00a0 Gunasheela.
Embryo cryopreservation is not always feasible in every case because it involves four to six weeks of preparation to be able to get a reasonable number of quality, mature eggs. "Also, this process cannot be used for people with breast or uterus cancer," she said.
Single women
Another problem arises when the patient is not married. "Naturally, there is no partner available for making embryos and IVF cannot be used here. For women like these, our study will be of great help," she said.
In such women, immature eggs will be collected before starting the treatment of cancer. "These eggs can be preserved for any length of time. Whenever required, they can be matured within 24 hours and fertilised outside the body. These embryos are then transferred into the uterine cavity when the patient is healed and desires to have a baby," said Dr Abir.
Dr Abir has successfully preserved the eggs of seven children. "The youngest in our hospital was four-and-a-half years old. Parents of a one-year-old had also approached us but we were not very happy with it," she said.
Dr Weon-Young Son, lead embryologist, McGill Reproductive Centre, Montru00e9al, Canada, is also a part of the experiment.
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