Although malignancy remains a critical health concern, significant medical advances in cancer detection andtreatment have improved the survival rates for patients. As patients live longer, the consequences of cancermanagement have assumed greater importance. Traditionally, cancer patients have been faced with greatuncertainty and have had few choices for fertility preservation. However, recent scientific advancesemploying a three-dimensional scaffold system usingx alginate for the in vitro maturation of ovarian folliclesreveals promising new technologies for clinical applications. The mission of the National PhysiciansCooperative (NPC) Tissue Core is to collect and distribute human ovarian tissue containing follicles to thebasic science components of the Oncofertility Consortium. By doing so, we will catalyze the translation of thebasic science knowledge gained in project RO1C and the Biomaterial Core (P30A) to women with a cancerdiagnosis. The NPC is comprised of five Core institutions and fifteen Allied centers across the country. Theelements of this program include patient screening and selection, collection of clinical and laboratory data,standardization of operative techniques for oophorectomy, post-surgical handling of tissues, tracking andstorage of ovarian specimens, and a process of tissue distribution to participating sites. Furthermore, theCore will work closely with the social science section (RO1D) to address the ethical, legal, economic, andsocial considerations that will emerge from the new discipline of Oncofertility. The primary goals of thisproposal are (1) to collect adult human ovaries from women with cancer and distribute them for basicscience research; (2) to educate providers, patients, and the community through the Allied centers aboutfertility options for women with cancer; and (3) to disseminate the technical knowledge of follicle maturationand cryopreservation to the Allied centers. The collective goal is to ultimately provide new options for fertilitypreservation. The NPC will provide the vehicle through which breakthroughs in basic reproductive physiologywill be translated to clinical medicine and, ideally, overcome the infertility and subfertility faced by manywomen undergoing cancer treatment. Restoration of fertility and other ovarian functions would substantiallyimprove the quality of life for these women.
