A 27-year-old man produced sperm after doctors transplanted testicular tissue that had been frozen when he was 10, in the first reported adult case to restore sperm production with prepubertal tissue. [1]
The report said the boy’s tissue was banked before high-dose chemotherapy for sickle cell disease in 2008, then thawed and re-implanted years later. Researchers described the result as the first time cryopreserved prepubertal testicular tissue transplant has been shown to restore sperm production in an adult patient. [1]
The Belgian clinic began banking testicular tissue from prepubertal patients in 2002, when the field was still new, and doctors warned families they could not guarantee future fertility treatment would work. Prof Ellen Goossens said, “At that time this field was in its infancy” and “These methods were just being developed in animals. We told patients’ families we couldn’t guarantee that the fertility restoration would be successful.” [1]
Last year, doctors grafted 4 tissue fragments back into the remaining testicle and 4 under the skin of the scrotum. After 1 year inside the body, they removed the grafts and found mature sperm in 2 grafts from inside the testicle. [1]
The findings were published in a preprint and had not yet been peer reviewed when reported. Goossens called it “a huge finding” and said, “Many more people will have hope that they can have biological children. It’s great to see for the patients for whom we already have tissue banked.” [1]
