Cryopreservation
Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue, often called Ovarian Tissue Cryopreservation, is of interest to women who want to preserve their reproductive function beyond the natural limit, or whose reproductive potential is threatened by cancer therapy, for example in hematologic malignancies or breast cancer. The procedure is to take a part of the ovary and carry out slow freezing before storing it in liquid nitrogen whilst therapy is undertaken. Tissue can then be thawed and implanted near the fallopian, either orthotopic (on the natural location) or heterotopic (on the abdominal wall),, where it starts to produce new eggs, allowing normal conception to take place. A study of 60 procedures concluded that ovarian tissue harvesting appears to be safe. The ovarian tissue may also be transplanted into mice that are immunocompromised (SCID mice) to avoid graft rejection, and tissue can be harvested later when mature follicles have developed.
Read more about this topic: Ovary