e-Poster Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2021

Breaking down the Barriers to Fertility Preservation in the Oncology patient via a National Ovarian and Testicular Tissue Transportation and Cryopreservation Service (NOTTCS) (#286)

Andrea Martin 1 , Debra Gook 1 2 , Genia Rozen 1 2 , Kate Stern 1 2
  1. The Womens - Parkville, Parkville, VIC, Australia
  2. Melbourne IVF, East Melbourne, VIC, Australia

 

Aim:  This paper describes the uptake of the national ovarian and testicular tissue transport and cryopreservation service (NOTTCS) since October 2019, allowing regional and interstate oncology referral for transport, processing and storage of ovarian, testicular tissue and sperm in a recognised centre of excellence, for fertility preservation.

Method:  Information/education/instructive resource package developed for oncofertility, supported by a centralised NOTTCS program coordinator and specialist fertility consultants. Referrals are fast-tracked to eliminate treatment delays. Ovarian, testicular tissue, and sperm is collected at the referring hospital and transported to RWH for centralised processing, cryopreservation and storage, following as per published protocols1-3.

Results: To date, 39 ovarian tissue, 4 testicular tissue, and one semen sample, have been transported from Australian states and territories to RWH. External funding support is provided for the subgroup of cancer patients aged 13-30, and for storage for those under 21 yrs.

Conclusions: Provision of a comprehensive fertility preservation service, including ovarian and testicular tissue for young people, primarily with cancer, was not widely available until 2019. NOTTCS facilitates recommended best practice oncofertility, with extensive support from a centre of excellence. This has made possible the expansion of patient and provider access to timely fertility preservation, irrespective of geographic location and (largely) financial constraints.

References:

  1. Kyono K, Hashimoto T, Toya M, et al. A transportation network for human ovarian tissue is indispensable to success for fertility preservation. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2017;34:1469-74.
  2. Duncan FE, Zelinski M, Gunn AH, et al. Ovarian tissue transport to expand access to fertility preservation: from animals to clinical practice. Reproduction. 2016;152:R201-r10.
  3. Liebenthron J, Montag M, Reinsberg J, et al. Overnight ovarian tissue transportation for centralized cryobanking: a feasible option. Reprod Biomed Online. 2019;38:740-9.