First successful ovary transplant

Monday 13th October 2003  Ananova

The first successful ovary transplant in a monkey has taken place, giving hope to millions of women with infertility problems.

Researchers from the US implanted ovarian tissue into an infertile rhesus monkey, and used one of the resulting eggs to produce a healthy test-tube baby.

If the technology can be adapted for humans, it could provide an answer for young women who are rendered infertile by cancer treatment, according to Oregon National Primate Research team.

They say transplants could also be used to reverse the menopause and allow women to have babies into their fifties and sixties.

The scientists removed the ovaries from seven rhesus macaque monkeys, and re-implanted slices of the tissue into three sites - the kidney, the arm and the abdomen.

All the monkeys began producing female hormones, and in four cases the tissue secreted eggs. Two of these were fertilised using IVF techniques, and a surrogate mother gave birth to a healthy female last year.

Dr David Lee, who led the research, said it was the first time transplanted tissue had been used to create a healthy infant. He said: "This procedure has utility for serving the reproductive potential of cancer survivors and treating menopause, and suggests that ovarian tissue banking in humans may be feasible."

Simon Davies, of the Teenage Cancer Trust, said young women diagnosed with ovarian cancer currently had to make an unbearable choice between early treatment and potential infertility. He said: "They have to decide whether to delay their treatment for their menstrual cycle to come round so they can freeze the eggs.

"That can be damaging, but if they don't it's possible they could become infertile. It's a heavy choice for a 15- or 16-year-old girl to make."

If the new technology worked, slivers of their ovaries could be frozen, and then re-implanted on their bodies later to produce eggs. Details of the research will be presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference in San Antonio, Texas, later today.