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ITV News Scotland Reporter Louise Scott has this exclusive report on a pioneering procedure which could prove to be a major breakthrough for the preservation of male fertility
Doctors in Edinburgh have performed the first testicular tissue plant in the UK, in a potential breakthrough for male fertility preservation.
Young men’s testicular tissue was removed and frozen before they underwent chemotherapy as a child.
Chemotherapy can permanently damage the cells needed to produce sperm, leaving children who undergo it at risk of infertility in adulthood.
Now, the first of those patients has had the frozen tissue transplanted back into his body in a bid to reinstate fertility – only the second such case in the world.
More than 1,200 patients in the UK and 3,100 worldwide have now had testicular tissue stored for potential future clinical use. Credit: ITV News
The young man, who wishes to remain anonymous, was left with no sperm in his semen after undergoing a bone marrow transplant to treat a serious blood disorder in 2023.
The patient said: “Fertility is something I’ve struggled with personally for a long time. I’ve always wanted to have children of my own but at some point, I found myself starting to slowly accept that that might never be possible for me.
“Having this procedure has given me genuine hope for the future. We don’t know yet whether it will work, but knowing that there is now even a possibility means more to me than I can really put into words.”
He has recovered well following the procedure and will now be closely monitored. After eight months, some of the transplanted tissue will be removed and examined to determine whether sperm have been produced.
Consultant urologist C J Shukla says he felt ‘privileged’ to carry out the procedure, but that whether it works remains to be seen
The procedure could eventually offer a way for boys who have had testicular tissue preserved before undergoing sterilising cancer treatment, to have children.
Study lead, Rod Mitchell, Professor of Developmental Endocrinology at the University of Edinburgh’s Institute for Regeneration and Repair said: “The aim of using the tissue at the moment is to transplant it back into the patient, either into their remaining testicle or just under the skin.
“The cells that know how to make sperm will start doing that, and we can then take out those sperm and freeze them for the patient.
“It means that we would still need to do IVF with the sperm that we created but it would mean that there would be an option for them.”
Study lead, Professor Rod Mitchell says the cells know how to make sperm and will start doing that when planted back into the body. Credit: ITV News
For almost three decades there has been a similar such option for girls going through chemotherapy, with ovarian tissue frozen. But this is the first time boys are being given an option.
Rod said: “It was often a discussion of how the fertility might be impacted but we also had to say there wasn’t anything we could do about it at the time.
“When they are young, even if they understand, it’s not normally a priority for them at all.
“Then when they come back, five or 10 years later they are suddenly very interested in it and they can then see the benefit of what happened.”
Lewis Stevenson, 20, tells ITV News that having the option of a transplant will be ‘life changing for so many people’
The Edinburgh testicular project was established with funding from Children with Cancer UK in 2015 and has since grown into a national programme.
Consultant urologist C J Shukla carried out the first operation in Edinburgh in the summer and told ITV News: “I felt privileged that I was able to do the first transplant.
“The patient himself has recovered very well without any complications, what remains now to see is whether it has worked and that’s probably a little more nerve wracking.
“We have limited tissue per patient and the stakes for the patients are quite high, so you have that one chance of getting it right.
“The ability to potentially restore their fertility, if it works, this would be game changing for all the patients.”
Lewis Stevenson from Fife was only eleven years old when he underwent intensive chemotherapy before a bone marrow transplant. Credit: Lewis Stevenson
More than 1,200 patients in the UK and 3,100 worldwide have now had testicular tissue stored for potential future clinical use.
Lewis Stevenson, from Fife, was only 11 years old when he underwent intensive chemotherapy before a bone marrow transplant.
He had testicular tissue removed before the treatment started, which means if his fertility has been impacted, he’ll also be able to undergo a testicular tissue transplant.
The decision to freeze his tissue was made at a time when Lewis didn’t fully understand the impact and was dealing with undergoing chemotherapy.
Lewis said having to worry about fertility, in addition to having his illness in the first place, was ‘quite distressing’. Credit: Lewis Stevenson
Now a 20-year-old student, Lewis told ITV News: “You don’t really have an idea of what that intensive treatment is going to be like, so I think my family did a great job of protecting me.
“But it was still a frightening ordeal. Fertility was not on my mind at that age. You’re going through the whirlwind of everything that’s going on and you’re more focussed on just wanting to get better and back to seeing your friends.”
But as Lewis grew into an adult, the subject became a critical point for him.
He said: “It’s something you need to think more about. Family becomes really important when thinking about your future. Even having the illness in the first place, then later on you have to worry about your fertility, it’s quite distressing.
“But now, knowing we have this option to move forward, it’s incredible.”
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