C A S S A N D R A
Safeguarding the Ovary: increasing Cryopreservation AcceSSibility And extending its transplantation application to eNDocrinological RestorAtion
The Full Story
Background
Ovarian tissue (OT) cryopreservation and transplantation (OTCT) has been applied worldwide to restore fertility in cancer patients with a risk of premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) due to gonadotoxic cancer therapies. It has yielded more than 200 live births and almost all transplanted patients recovered their ovarian function. However, OT cryopreservation is costly and therefore limited to large hospitals. Moreover, considering that OT transplantation is restricted to patients aiming for pregnancy and cannot be offered to POI patients to alleviate their menopausal symptoms, most frozen OT samples end up never being used. This represents a significant waste of money and precious material.
Mission
Our project aims to revolutionize the OTCT for cancer patients by offering an affordable freezing procedure to save ovaries from a larger number of patients and by demonstrating that OT can be successfully used as a natural hormone replacement therapy to improve the quality of life of cancer survivors.
Scientific objectives
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To evaluate our inexpensive passive slow freezing approach as a strategy to save ovaries from a larger number of cancer patients compared to the high-cost conventional protocol by determining the follicle development in long-term (6 months) xenotransplants.
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To assess the feasibility of ovarian tissue transplantation as a viable and safe hormone therapy compared to pharmacological hormone replacement therapy by studying the effect of both alternatives in an animal model.
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To enhance ovarian tissue cryopreservation accessibility and its applicability by creating awareness through disseminating our results to stakeholders.
