How does chemotherapy drug exposure affect subsequent fertility? (Norah Spears Professor of Reproductive Physiology, Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh)
Cancer treatment with chemotherapy drugs is often gonadotoxic, potentially causing life-long infertility. With the continued increase in long-term survival rates of cancer patients, resulting fertility problems have become of greater concern. This is particularly a problem for survivors of childhood cancers who can be rendered infertile by treatment before they even reach puberty: currently, there are few potential fertility preservation treatments for young girls and only highly experimental treatments that may be available for young boys in the near future. While epidemiological studies have allowed many chemotherapy drugs to be grouped into low, moderate or high risk categories for gonadotoxicity, beyond this we know very little about exactly how the drugs damage the gonads, knowledge vital for the informed development of protective strategies.
We have examined the effect of a variety of different chemotherapy drugs on the ovary and testis, primarily through the use of tissue culture techniques. Tissue culture can be a powerful method for manipulating growth and development in a highly controlled environment. It has long proved to be particularly effective for the ovary, where a variety of in vitro methods have been shown able to support ovarian follicle development in a highly physiological manner. The testis has been more difficult to develop in culture, but recent techniques support spermatogenesis from cultured prepubertal testes, a technique currently being used in our laboratory.
Our research into the effects of chemotherapy drugs on the ovary and testis has examined the cell types affected; the developmental stage of the germ cells most at risk; the time course of cell death; and the relative gonadotoxicity of different drugs. With around one out of every thousand pregnant women diagnosed with cancer during their pregnancy, we have also looked at the effects of chemotherapy treatment on the developing gonad. Finally, with few fertility preservation options available, especially for childhood cancer patients, the ideal solution will be if the gonads can be protected from the damaging effect of the chemotherapy drugs; with this in mind, current work is also examining the potential of tyrosine kinase inhibitors to protect against cisplatin-induced ovarian damage.
Date:
14 November 2017, 13:00
Venue:
John Radcliffe Women's Centre, Headington OX3 9DU
Venue Details:
The Anne Anderson Lecture Theatre, Level 3
Speaker:
Prof. Norah Spears ( University of Edinburgh)
Organising department:
Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health
Topics:
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editor:
Susie Barber
