UZ Brussel, in partnership with Brussels IVF, has unveiled a groundbreaking procedure aimed at helping childhood cancer survivors regain their fertility. The university hospital recently performed the world’s first successful transplant of frozen testicular tissue in a man who had been rendered infertile by chemotherapy as a child. This milestone achievement was shared in a press release on Wednesday.
Chemotherapy and radiotherapy, common treatments for childhood cancers, often lead to infertility in boys, as these treatments can damage the stem cells in their testicles responsible for sperm production. To address this, testicular tissue can be harvested and frozen before treatment begins. Although prepubescent boys do not produce sperm, their testicular tissue contains stem cells that, after puberty, can potentially generate sperm.
“This transplant represents a significant step forward,” UZ Brussel stated in their announcement. The procedure builds upon a landmark achievement from 2002, when the hospital became the first to successfully freeze and store testicular tissue.
The patient who underwent the transplant will be monitored closely for the next year, with sperm and blood samples taken quarterly for analysis. “After a year, we will remove the transplanted tissue to assess whether it has begun producing sperm cells,” explained UZ Brussel. Additionally, a small sample from another part of the testicle will be examined to verify the success of the procedure.
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Restorative Reproductive Medicine Offers Hope to Infertile Couples
