How successful is ovarian tissue cryopreservation?
Although still considered experimental, cryopreservation of tissue from the outer region (cortex) of the ovary, which contains numerous primordial follicles and immature eggs, has evolved into a promising development for fertility protection. To date, successful ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation is limited to various animal species. At this time, no pregnancies have resulted from human cryopreserved ovarian tissue, although, there is a recent report of follicle growth after transplant of frozen-thawed ovarian tissue in a patient with benign ovarian disease. Research studies are being conducted to determine whether transplantation of cryopreserved ovarian tissue to the original site or a different site is preferable. What are the safety concerns with ovarian transplantation? The risk of reintroducing cancer cells depends on the disease type (high risk are leukemia and neuroblastoma, breast cancer carries a low to intermediate risk), activity, stage and mass of malignan
