Posted by Miranda Bernhardt on October 16, 2009
Mouse 2-cell embryo Photo: Miranda Bernhardt
The options available to couples facing infertility are increasing, whether or not a cancer diagnosis is involved. Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), are becoming more and more common, and millions of healthy babies have been born with their help. With all this success, we might start to forget about the biology of it all–that the “in vitro” part of IVF litterally means “in glass”–IVF embryos go through fertilization and the first few days of embryonic development outside of their mother’s body. We need to make sure we consider the effects that growing an embryo outside the body for a few days might have.
An article from the New York Times,
“Picture Emerging on Genetic Risk of IVF,” highlights recent studies looking at the impact of IVF. These studies have shown slight increases in the rates of certain birth defects and specific rare diseases related to abnormal gene expression in children that were conceived using IVF. (The changes in gene expression in these disorders are caused by problems in a process called
‘imprinting,’ which has to do with clusters of genes expressed differently based on whether they came from your mother or father.) Research using mouse embryos grown under different conditions also shows that there are differences in the behavior of adult mice produced from these embryos. It looks the very early experience of an embryo matters, but the reasons why are just beginning to emerge.
I think the most important impact of research like this is that it helps us realize that we have more work to do. It’s important to keep in mind that these disorders are still very rare in babies conceived using assisted reproduction, but it’s starting to look like the risk is slightly higher than in the general population, so it’s definitely something we need to think about and research. For the health of future generations, we want to make sure assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs) are as safe as possible.
You can access the original article from the Centers for Disease Control on risk of birth defects
here and a review article on assisted reproduction and imprinting syndromes
here.
Posted by Candace Tingen on September 30, 2009
HemOnc Today has published a nice article discussing what responsibility the oncologist has in informing the patient about his/her fertility risks and potential for preservation. The article cites the most recent American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO) meeting, which found that only approximately 25% of oncologists refer their patients for fertility preservation. Furthermore, less than 40% of oncologists were aware of ASCO’s recommendations for patient guidance and navigation regarding fertility preservation. The article also discusses benefits and disadvantages of current fertility preservation methods available for men and women, including gamete cryopreservation, embryo creation and freezing, and ovarian tissue banking.
Related to the last blog on fertility choices in the economic recession, it seems that up to 51% of oncologists don’t mention fertility preservation options to patients because they believe that these measures will be financially out of reach.
To overcome these obstacles in doctor-patient communication, the article suggests that oncologists seek information from the Oncofertility Consortium’s Physician hotline and be very clear in their recommendations to patients, as these can be incredibly influential in the patient’s ultimate decisions about fertility preservation.
Posted by Tara S. Kerpelman on August 10, 2009
Teresa Woodruff, director of the Oncofertility Consortium, was interviewed on WGN-TV, Chicago about follicle maturation for cancer and fertility research.
In the video interview from August 5th, Teresa talks about isolating individual follicle cells and storing them in a 3D gel similar to the ovary’s environment where the follicles may be able to mature. Then the eggs from the follicles would be available to implant for fertilization. But the process is still experimental, for now.
CLTV picked up the video yesterday. You can watch it here.
Posted by Tara S. Kerpelman on July 30, 2009
An article on infertility and religion in the context of Oncofertility came out today on the Medill Reports Web site. In “Reconciling religion and infertility,” Alina Dain uses the discussions from the Second Annual Oncofertility Summit to explain the different points of view various religions have on what is morally acceptable when trying to conceive after cancer.
The article covers Judaism, Islam and Catholism and includes quotes from Dr. Sherman Silber, Laurie Zoloth, Rumee Ahmed and Paul Lauritzen, all speakers at this year’s Summit.
Posted by Tara S. Kerpelman on July 29, 2009
A magazine in Brazil, “Isto É,” highlighted the Oncofertility Consortium’s research in an article entitled “Depois do câncer, a chance de ter filhos: Tratamentos de reproduçaõ assistida permitem aos pacientes realizar o sonho da gravidez” (A chance at having children after cancer: Assisted reproductive technologies allow patients to carry out their dreams of pregnancy) by Renata Cabral.
You can find the article in the “Medicine and Well-Being” section on page 17 of the July 15th issue of the weekly.
Click here for the online version of the article.
Posted by Tara S. Kerpelman on July 28, 2009
The OSA counterpart in San Diego, the Be WiSE (Better Education for Women in Science and Engineering) Young Women in Cancer Research Oncofertility Academy, was highlighted in the Del Mar Times. Twelve young women representing 10 high schools were at the event on July 25 to learn about Oncofertility and to hear from an ovarian cancer survivor.
Read more about it in the article by Gina McGalliard here.
Posted by Tara S. Kerpelman on July 21, 2009
WIRED magazine ran a story last week based on the research article published in the journal Human Reproduction received many comments.
“A Fertility First: Human Egg Cells Grow Up in Lab” written by Hadley Leggett has already gotten 18 comments on the WIRED Web site. People were interested to learn about the study from “In vitro grown human ovarian follicles from cancer patients support oocyte growth” by Min Xu, Susan Barrett, Erin West-Farrell, Laxmi Kondapalli, Sarah Kiesewetter, Lonnie Shea and Teresa Woodruff.
Someone was curious about how the alginate used in the study doesn’t actually make contact with the follicles but still supports them and other people asked interesting questions about religion, adoption and ethics.
By the way, many of these topics will be discussed at the Oncofertility Summit this week.
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Posted by Tara S. Kerpelman on July 20, 2009
Jim Kirkwood from K-Talk on KTKK-AM, a radio station in Salt Lake City, mentioned Teresa Woodruff and our Oncofertility research during his 10pm show on July 14th.
Posted by Tara S. Kerpelman on July 16, 2009
The recent study that came out in the journal Human Reproduction (see previous posts on NIH news release and Northwestern NewsCenter article) has gained media attention in India. The Web site MedIndia.net featured an article on it today. To read it, click here.
Posted by Tara S. Kerpelman on July 14, 2009
Read more about the study in Human Reproduction that was mentioned in the NIH news release today on the Northwestern University NewsCenter Web site here.
