丹麥人工卵巢新科技　可望協助癌癒婦女懷孕 / Artificial ovaries could help young cancer patients preserve their fertility, and this is a game-changer

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醫療新知 > 丹麥人工卵巢新科技　可望協助癌癒婦女懷孕 / Artificial ovaries could help young cancer patients preserve their fertility, and this is a game-changer

丹麥人工卵巢新科技　可望協助癌癒婦女懷孕 / Artificial ovaries could help young cancer patients preserve their fertility, and this is a game-changer

05-07-2018

丹麥人工卵巢新科技　可望協助癌癒婦女懷孕

(法新社資料圖片)

丹麥科學加宣布研發人工卵巢新技術，將來可望有助曾接受化療、放射治療等婦女重拾生育能力。

現有醫學技術主要有兩種方法，助有婦女保留生育能力。第一種是選擇冷藏卵子，待治癒癌症後，再用人工授孕方法生育。另一方法是移除和冷藏部分卵巢組織，治病後再植回病人體內。不過，由於原有卵巢組織可能殘留癌細胞，因此第二種方法風險較高亦較少用。

哥本哈根國家醫院（Rigshospitalet）生殖生物學實驗室博士後研究員波爾什（Susanne Pors）及其他專家研究人工卵巢技術。研究人員先抽取女病人自身或由別人捐贈的卵巢組織，再用化學方法清除當中所有細胞，以杜絕癌細胞殘留風險，只餘下蛋白質和膠原蛋白組成的「去細胞支架」（decellularized scaffold），亦即人工卵巢。

專家再把預先冷藏的病人卵泡（follicle）「種回」人工卵巢。由於卵泡在人類胚胎時期已形成，亦有保護膜保護，因此可確保癌細胞不能入侵。專家以老鼠體內所做試驗顯示，人工卵巢能夠支持卵泡生長。

研究結果周一（2日）在西班牙巴塞隆拿舉行的歐洲生殖醫學會年度會議上發表，專家強調這種技術尚需驗證。

（美國有線新聞網絡/英國廣播公司）

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Artificial ovaries could help young cancer patients preserve their fertility, and this is a game-changer

While many people are familiar with women freezing their eggs to extend or preserve their reproductive abilities, a new fertility method could soon offer a new option. CNN reports that Danish researchers have created an artificial ovary that may preserve fertility for young cancer patients. Ovaries produce eggs, and some cancer treatments damage the ovaries, which can lead to infertility. So these artificial ovaries could possibly help women treat their cancer without having the additional concern of losing the ability to have biological children.

The American Cancer Society notes that both chemotherapy and radiation therapies can damage the ovaries. Currently, women have the options of freezing eggs, embryos, or pieces of their ovaries, or undergoing infertility treatment after cancer as a way to conceive. But a team at the Laboratory of Reproductive Biology at the University Hospital of Copenhagen Rigshospitalet have created yet another option.

The researchers believed that they could bioengineer a “scaffold” of ovarian tissue that contains no cancer. Then, early-stage follicles could grow naturally into fully functional ovarian follicles on this scaffold. In the female body, ovarian follicles each contain one egg that matures during the menstrual cycle. The scientists were able to make the follicles grow on the scaffold, which could allow a woman with damaged ovaries to have children.

「This is the first time that isolated human follicles have survived in a decellularized human scaffold,」 the authors of the study noted.

One of the authors, Dr. Susanne Pors, explained to CNN in an email how the artificial ovary would work in the real world. “The artificial ovary will consist of a scaffold (originating from the woman’s own tissue or from donated tissue) combined with her own follicles,” Pors wrote. “It is newly constructed, but biological.”

According to USA Today, the researchers presented their findings at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology annual meeting on July 2nd. “We have now done the first important steps towards constructing a cancer-free ovary,” Pors said. “We have many more studies to do, but this is a proof-of-concept showing that human eggs can survive on a newly constructed scaffold.”

There is still much work to be done before these artificial ovaries can be used. And both USA Today and CNN noted that other scientists not involved in the study have expressed their uncertainty about whether or not these experimental ovaries will be successful. But if they are, the artificial ovaries could help extend the fertility of young female cancer patients who don’t want to give up the hope of having biological children.

文章來自: (中) https://news.mingpao.com/ins/instantnews/web_tc/article/20180702/s00005/1530528766618

文章來自: (Eng) https://hellogiggles.com/news/artificial-ovaries-fertility/

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