MONDAY, April 21, (News Locale) - Chemotherapy is generally detested by cancer patients because of the unwanted side effects, which include nausea, loss of hair, infertility and general discomfort associated with it. For young women of child-bearing age, infertility is a cruel sentence. 

Now researchers at the Edinburgh University and the Royal Infirmary may have hit upon a method that allows young female cancer patients to get pregnant after finishing their chemotherapy course. The method involves taking immature eggs from the woman and then growing them till they mature in the laboratory.

These mature eggs can then be used by women when they want to conceive using In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) technique.  While the technique promises to energize the field of IVF for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, it can also increase the number of eggs available for stem cell research.

Currently researchers practice removing a piece of ovary before young female cancer patients undergo chemotherapy. Later on this frozen ovarian tissue is transplanted into the ovary so as to start producing eggs for conception.

However there is a large risk of re-introducing cancer cells by using this technique. That is why the Edinburgh method holds promise. The technique works as follows:
* A piece of ovarian tissue is frozen prior to the patient undergoing chemotherapy
* When the woman wants to get pregnant, the eggs are harvested from the ovarian tissue and are matured.
* These mature eggs are fertilized
* The embryo is then implanted into the womb similar to the IVF technique.

However lead researcher Dr Evelyn Telfer, of the Edinburgh University’s School of Biological Sciences said more research was needed before using this technique in practice. The technique could become available in as little as five years.

According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) "Infertility is a disease of the reproductive system that impairs one of the body's most basic functions: the conception of children."

It is estimated that 15 percent of the population globally is infertile. There are many causes for infertility with cancer chemotherapy being a leading cause. The above study provides hope for such women who risk becoming infertile because they have to take up radiation or chemotherapy to fight cancer.

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