Course 'Future fertility for the male child and adolescent with cancer: best practice, research brea

02/05/2016

Course 'Future fertility for the male child and adolescent with cancer: best practice, research breakthroughs and current dilemmas'

Münster, Germany 13-14 May 2016

This two-day course will present the latest research breakthroughs and experiments for fertility preservation in boys. It will include discussions on the ethical and psychological challenges as well as specific lectures on the procedures to establish fertility preservation in boys in clinical practice. Course description: Fertility preservation in boys and girls has seen a tremendous growth of experimental options and has now reached a stage where clinical inventions are indicated. While the first pregnancies from cryopreserved ovarian tissue have been reported in girls, no clinical studies have yet shown a successful strategy for fertility preservation in boys. However, the presence of spermatogonial stem cells as target cells for therapy open a wide range of options, including germ cell transplantation, in vitro spermatogenesis and grafting of tissue for the development of clinical procedures. Currently many research programmes deal with the exploration of the biology of spermatogonial stem cells and the development of experimental strategies. At the same time many centres have begun to cryobank immature testicular tissue. This course will provide an update on the research activities in fertility preservation in boys, introduce the current status of clinical interventions and procedures and look into the necessary legal requirements. A strong focus will also be placed on ethical considerations and psychological challenges for the patients and their parents. Participants will learn about all aspects of the procedures. The nature of the future clinical procedures requires an intense collaboration of different skills - from spermatologists, ART specialists, paediatricians, oncologists, surgeons, scientists and technical staff. All of these skills will be needed to build a successful programme. Participation in the course will be useful for all professions. Aims:
  • Provide an update on the current status of research and clinical procedures in stem cell-based fertility preservation in boys
  • Explore patient-related challenges in terms of ethical and psychological demands
  • Prepare all aspects required to establish a clinical programme in fertility preservation of boys
Target audience: Clinicians, scientists, ART specialists, technical staff More information: