Ovarian Freezing Before Cancer Treatment

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer can compromise the ability to become pregnant.
Experiments in animals and humans have tried to collect, freeze and store eggs to see if they
can be saved for possible later use. While studies are promising, it is still uncertain
whether such approaches will ultimately prove to be useful in practice for achieving
pregnancy in humans. The main purpose of this study is to see whether it is possible to
remove and store ovarian tissues by freezing. It is hoped that, in the future, frozen, stored
ovarian tissue can be used to achieve pregnancy. Before receiving chemotherapy or radiation
therapy, subjects will have a piece of the ovaries, or one of two ovaries, removed by
surgery. The tissues will be frozen by a special method in an effort to prevent the eggs from
being damaged. The majority (80%) of the tissue will be stored for potential use in case the
patient is unable to achieve pregnancy in the future, and part of the tissue (20%) will be
used for studying how the eggs can be grown in the laboratory.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Female patient between the ages of 18 and 42 years.

- In need of imminent cancer treatment, including surgery, chemotherapy or radiation
therapy, which is viewed as likely to result in a permanent and complete loss of
subsequent ovarian function or have a health condition that will result in premature
ovarian failure. These include, but are not limited to: abdominopelvic irradiation,
total body irradiation, alkylating-intensive chemotherapy, and removal of ovaries as
part of their cancer treatment.

- Reasonably good health.

- Two ovaries.

- Able to defer definitive cancer therapy for approximately 3 days until the patient
recovers from laparoscopic oophorectomy.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Patients considered as high risk for surgical complications will be excluded from the
research protocol.