An estimated 891,480 new cancer cases will be diagnosed among women this year in the U.S. alone. Although 5-year survival rates have significantly increased in recent decades, existing treatments are associated with a plethora of adverse side effects. In particular, cancer survivors with ovaries struggle with infertility and reproductive dysfunction. Separate from cancer-related infertility, there are a number of ovarian-associated diseases that impact reproductive health. Restoring reproductive function requires careful manipulation of ovarian follicles, which support and regulate egg maturation through the secretion of hormones. Current measures used for fertility preservation, such as cryopreservation of ovarian tissues and subsequent transplantation, can pose the risk of re-introducing malignant cells upon transplantation in cancer survivors. There continues to be an unmet clinical need for a safe method that can successfully support follicle development and restore reproductive function in damaged or dysfunctional ovarian tissues.
Description
Inventors at the University of Pittsburgh have developed a novel method to support follicle development and restore fertility in chemotherapy-treated mice via targeted delivery of immature follicles. This technology utilizes a novel biomaterial derived from decellularized porcine ovarian tissues. The resultant ovarian-specific ECM (OECM) hydrogel has been shown to support both in vitro follicle development and is utilized in this technology, which describes a method for rapid isolation and targeted delivery of primordial follicles into the ovarian cortex via microinjection. The inventors are proposing the use of this technology as a minimally invasive method to restore fertility and endocrine function in cancer survivors with ovaries as well as a targeted delivery system for the treatment of ovarian-associated diseases.
Applications
• Treatment of oncofertility
• Treatment of ovarian-associated diseases via delivery of biomaterials, stem cells, and other therapeutic agents
Advantages
• Ovarian-derived ECM hydrogels mimic the native environment to support follicle development
• Allows for the rapid isolation & delivery of follicles to restore reproductive function
• Targeted delivery into the ovarian cortex via microinjection
• Gelation of the follicle/hydrogel mixture immediately occurs at body temperature, thereby ensuring retention in the ovary
• Minimally invasive method compared to surgical transplantation
Invention Readiness
Pre-clinical development, in vivo validation
IP Status
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20220125856A1
