Ovarian tissue cryopreserved for fertility preservation from patients with Ewing or other sarcomas appear to have no tumour cell contamination

• Published in: European journal of cancer (1990) 2013-05, Vol.49 (8), p.1932-1938
• Main Authors: Greve, Tine, Wielenga, Vera Timmermans, Grauslund, Morten, Sørensen, Nils, Christiansen, Dorte Bang, Rosendahl, Mikkel, Yding Andersen, Claus
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Cryopreservation; Cryopreservation - methods; Female; Fertility preservation; Fertility Preservation - methods; Hematology, Oncology and Palliative Medicine; Humans; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Inbred Strains; Mice, Nude; Micrometastatic disease; Molecular markers; Multiple tumors. Solid tumors. Tumors in childhood (general aspects); Oncogene Proteins, Fusion - genetics; Ovarian metastases; Ovary; Ovary - metabolism; Ovary - transplantation; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Proto-Oncogene Protein c-fli-1 - genetics; Reproducibility of Results; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA-Binding Protein EWS - genetics; Sarcoma; Sarcoma - diagnosis; Sarcoma - genetics; Sarcoma, Ewing - diagnosis; Sarcoma, Ewing - genetics; Time Factors; Transplantation, Heterologous; Tumors
• ISSN: 0959-8049; 1879-0852
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2013.01.032

Abstract Aim The chemotherapy required to treat patients with sarcoma may as a side-effect induce infertility in girls and young women. If these patients have ovarian cortical tissue cryopreserved prior to chemotherapy, they may, if necessary, have the tissue transplanted and restore their fertility. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of residual cancer cells in the ovarian cortex intended for transplantation. Patients and methods Ovarian tissue stored for fertility preservation from 16 surviving patients diagnosed with sarcoma (nine with Ewing sarcomas, four with osteosarcomas, two with synovial sarcomas and one with chondrosarcoma) was evaluated for the presence of malignant cells by histology and by transplantation to immunodeficient mice for 20 weeks. A fraction of the tissue from patients with Ewing sarcoma was also evaluated for the presence of the molecular marker EWS-FLI1 by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The transplant itself and selected murine organs were analysed for the presence of malignant cells by histology. Results All the mice accommodated the human tissue for 20 weeks of transplantation period with none of the mice developing any sign of cancer. In no instance were any cancer cells detected by histology or RT-qPCR. Conclusion Ovarian tissue from patients with sarcoma appears to be without metastatic malignant cells in numbers that allow detection. Although the actual pieces of ovarian tissue used for transplantation remain unchecked, the current data indicate that the procedure is safe at least in patients that survive the sarcoma disease.