Younger women undergoing fertility treatment may stand a better chance of getting pregnant with a new procedure that does not stimulate the ovaries with powerful hormone-containing drugs, doctors said yesterday.
Findings from the first fertility centre in Britain to use in-vitro maturation (IVM) as an alternative to IVF reveal that pregnancy rates are comparable between the two techniques but only for women under 35. In IVF, women are given hormones for about two or three weeks to stimulate their ovaries to produce mature eggs before they are surgically removed for in vitro fertilisation. In IVM, however, immature eggs are removed from the ovaries without the use of drugs and matured in the laboratory before being fertilised with sperm.
The new technique, which has only recently been introduced to Britain, is considered to be safer than conventional IVF because it does not increase the risk of potentially lethal hyperstimulation syndrome, where the ovaries respond adversely to the hormones used during IVF treatment.
Tim Child, of the Oxford Fertility Centre, said that 70 women in Britain had undergone IVM in the past year and for the 40 patients who were under 35 the pregnancy rate was 48 per cent – compared to a pregnancy rate of about 55 per cent for women undergoing conventional IVF.
The percentage of under 35-year-olds achieving a clinical pregnancy – where the heartbeat of the baby has been detected – was 33 per cent. Just 10 babies of mothers undergoing IVM and attending the Oxford centre have so far been born, so it is still too early to estimate an accurate live-birth rate, which is 31 per cent for IVF.
"What we've found looking back on the first year of using IVM is that it works particularly well for a group of women at the younger end of the scale that we have treated," said Dr Child.
"It's an improvement in that we've worked out which patients do best with IVM, so it's about offering it to the right couples," he said.
About 900 babies have been born worldwide by the IVM technique. The first IVM babies in Britain were born last year after the Oxford Fertility Centre was given a licence to use the procedure by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
The HFEA's experts found that there was no evidence to suggest that IVM was dangerous either to women or to their babies – although further safety studies are still in progress.
Dr Child said that when IVM was first used, pregnancy rates and live-birth rates were relatively low compared to conventional IVF but better laboratory procedures, as well as patient selection, had improved the success rate significantly. "I'm not sure we will ever get better than IVF but the aim is to achieve the same success rate. The advantages of IVM are so great – it is safer and easier. Women who have had both say that they prefer IVM because they do not need several weeks of drug treatment," Dr Child said.
Svend Lindenberg, of the Copenhagen Fertility Centre, who pioneered IVM, said it was best suited to younger women who have regular periods.
SOURCE: independent.co.uk
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Breakthrough Technology Takes Egg Freezing from Myth to Dependable Reality
The day of true reproductive freedom for women has arrived. A new scientific study confirms the efficacy of a revolutionary egg selection and freezing process that, at long last, offers women a viable and reliable fertility preservation option.
Developed and clinically tested by the scientists at ReproCure, a vanguard genetics products company, this process increases the live births derived from a cryopreserved egg almost seven-fold over the field's current standard. In simple terms, it means that for the first time, women in their prime childbearing years can freeze and bank their own eggs for future use, relatively confident that they will have a 26%-to-27% chance of a having a baby from each cryopreserved, genetically selected oocyte.
Significantly,these odds are better than those with conventional IVF at its best. The patent pending process called Egg Competency Testing (ECT), when coupled with ultra-rapid egg freezing technology known as vitrification (a protocol that minimizes egg damage), actually delivers on reproductive medicine's promise to liberate women from the tyranny of the biological clock. The stunning results of a rigorous multi-year ReproCure-funded study are published in the current issue of the prestigious journal Reproductive BioMedicine Online.
"Everything we've heard before about egg freezing needs to be put away," said Dr. Geoffrey Sher, Executive Medical Director of ReproCure and the Sher Institutes for Reproductive Medicine (SIRM(R)). Dr. Sher is a world-renowned trailblazer in the field of reproductive medicine for more than 25 years.
"I would heartily agree with medical governing agencies that in the past have strongly advised against the use of egg freezing and banking. Up until now, existing technology only offered a 1%-to-4% baby rate per frozen egg.... a false promise of success," noted Dr. Sher. "But ECT and vitrification, dual processes that allow us to select only chromosomally normal eggs for safe cryobanking are paradigm shifters.
They give women arealistic fertility preservation alternative they can count on." Normal Egg, Healthy Baby In essence, ECT, focuses on a relatively new DNA test called Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) to determine which eggs are chromosomally normal (euploid). It's well established that, barring othercompromising medical factors or male infertility, it is euploid eggs that are most likely to yield chromosomally sound embryos, which in turn are the ones most likely to develop into healthy babies. Indeed, ReproCure/SIRM investigators were able to illustrate that inthe vast majority of cases, the transfer of one or two chromosomally normal(competent) embryos to a receptive uterine environment produced a babyalmost 70% of the time. The ECT process involves handpicking chromosomally normal eggs forpreservation.
Researchers now know that most eggs, even in young healthy women, are chromosomally abnormal (aneuploid). Further complicating things is the fact that the incidence of aneupolidy is random. One month a woman opting for egg freezing may be stimulated to produce 12 eggs and none will be normal. The next month, the same woman might produce six that are normal. The key to a successful outcome is freezing only the euploid eggs.
In contrast to the scattershot approach of freezing every egg harvested - a minimum of 20 at most centers, ReproCure's technique requires that only four or five normal eggs be frozen and banked. The CGH Factor CGH is a delicate and complex test that screens the full complement of chromosomes in each egg. ReproCure/SIRM's dedicated team has an expertise and experience in egg/embryo CGH that is unmatched by any other center inthe world, giving it an unbeatable track record in identifying chromosomally normal eggs. Only these are selected for vitrification(ultra-rapid freezing) and banking.
Once frozen, these eggs are stored until the time the woman chooses to create her family. Until now, family building has been severely constrained by simple biology. If a woman wanted her own biogenetic children, she was under the gun to procreate before her eggs were too old and chromosomally abnormal to generate offspring.
That ratchets up the pressure on everything from education to economics and romance. Women who haven't found the right mate by 35 or who can't afford to leave the workplace, find themselves penalized by nature. For most, a genetically related child is not possible. If they want to experience pregnancy, the only option is egg donation. ECT and vitrification does an end-run around the biological clock. It affords a woman the luxury of time, precisely because she's stored her own eggs while in her reproductive prime. Those oocytes, when properly warmed, fertilized and transferred are as likely to yield offspring in five, 10 or even 20 years as they are today.
ECT liberates a woman to achieve emotional, psychological and financial maturity, secure in the knowledge that she can have children of her own.
About Dr. Geoffrey Sher
Dr. Geoffrey Sher, Executive Medical Director and co-founder of SIRM, is an internationally renowned expert in the field of Assisted ReproductiveTechnology (ART) and has been influential in the births of more than 16,000 babies throughout his career.
Over the last 26 years, Dr. Sher has helped fashion the entire field of ART. After training under "The Father of IVF" Dr. Patrick Steptoe, Dr. Sher established the first private IVF program in the United States in 1982. He later established a number of centers throughout California before foundingthe first SIRM office - in Las Vegas.
For more than two decades, Dr. Geoffrey Sher and his medical team have been on the leading edge of IVF research. Each significant breakthrough has been incorporated into SIRM treatment protocols - lending the benefit of those many years' of IVF experience to every SIRM office. Dr. Sher has more than 200 scientific papers and abstracts to his credit. He has authored one of the most widely read books on IVF, http://www.haveababy.com/why/artbook.aspIn Vitro Fertilization: The A.R.T.of Making Babies
About the Sher Institutes for Reproductive Medicine (SIRM(R))
SIRM is one of the largest networks of infertility medical practices in the country. Founded in 1998 by Drs. Geoffrey Sher and Ghanima Maassarani, the Sher Institute family of practices has since grown to include 13 offices across the United States.
Dr. Sher founded the first private InVitro Fertilization (IVF) clinic in the U.S. in 1982. The SIRM philosophy is centered on individualized patient care, backed by ongoing scientific and technological breakthroughs.
SIRM has offices in Los Angeles, Chino Hills, Sacramento and Pleasanton, CA; New York City,Westchester and Long Island, New York; Bedminster and Phillipsburg, New Jersey; Dallas, Texas; St. Louis, Missouri; Peoria, Illinois; and LasVegas, Nevada.
More information can be found on the SIRM website at http://www.haveababy.com.
About ReproCure, LLC
ReproCure, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a specialty genetics testing laboratory focused on benefiting: (1) women and couples who require assistance in becoming pregnant and (2) women seeking reproductive alternatives such as freezing their eggs for later use.
ReproCure is led by Medical Director Geoffrey Sher, MD and ScientificDirector Levent Keskintepe, PhD.
Source: prwire.com
Developed and clinically tested by the scientists at ReproCure, a vanguard genetics products company, this process increases the live births derived from a cryopreserved egg almost seven-fold over the field's current standard. In simple terms, it means that for the first time, women in their prime childbearing years can freeze and bank their own eggs for future use, relatively confident that they will have a 26%-to-27% chance of a having a baby from each cryopreserved, genetically selected oocyte.
Significantly,these odds are better than those with conventional IVF at its best. The patent pending process called Egg Competency Testing (ECT), when coupled with ultra-rapid egg freezing technology known as vitrification (a protocol that minimizes egg damage), actually delivers on reproductive medicine's promise to liberate women from the tyranny of the biological clock. The stunning results of a rigorous multi-year ReproCure-funded study are published in the current issue of the prestigious journal Reproductive BioMedicine Online.
"Everything we've heard before about egg freezing needs to be put away," said Dr. Geoffrey Sher, Executive Medical Director of ReproCure and the Sher Institutes for Reproductive Medicine (SIRM(R)). Dr. Sher is a world-renowned trailblazer in the field of reproductive medicine for more than 25 years.
"I would heartily agree with medical governing agencies that in the past have strongly advised against the use of egg freezing and banking. Up until now, existing technology only offered a 1%-to-4% baby rate per frozen egg.... a false promise of success," noted Dr. Sher. "But ECT and vitrification, dual processes that allow us to select only chromosomally normal eggs for safe cryobanking are paradigm shifters.
They give women arealistic fertility preservation alternative they can count on." Normal Egg, Healthy Baby In essence, ECT, focuses on a relatively new DNA test called Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) to determine which eggs are chromosomally normal (euploid). It's well established that, barring othercompromising medical factors or male infertility, it is euploid eggs that are most likely to yield chromosomally sound embryos, which in turn are the ones most likely to develop into healthy babies. Indeed, ReproCure/SIRM investigators were able to illustrate that inthe vast majority of cases, the transfer of one or two chromosomally normal(competent) embryos to a receptive uterine environment produced a babyalmost 70% of the time. The ECT process involves handpicking chromosomally normal eggs forpreservation.
Researchers now know that most eggs, even in young healthy women, are chromosomally abnormal (aneuploid). Further complicating things is the fact that the incidence of aneupolidy is random. One month a woman opting for egg freezing may be stimulated to produce 12 eggs and none will be normal. The next month, the same woman might produce six that are normal. The key to a successful outcome is freezing only the euploid eggs.
In contrast to the scattershot approach of freezing every egg harvested - a minimum of 20 at most centers, ReproCure's technique requires that only four or five normal eggs be frozen and banked. The CGH Factor CGH is a delicate and complex test that screens the full complement of chromosomes in each egg. ReproCure/SIRM's dedicated team has an expertise and experience in egg/embryo CGH that is unmatched by any other center inthe world, giving it an unbeatable track record in identifying chromosomally normal eggs. Only these are selected for vitrification(ultra-rapid freezing) and banking.
Once frozen, these eggs are stored until the time the woman chooses to create her family. Until now, family building has been severely constrained by simple biology. If a woman wanted her own biogenetic children, she was under the gun to procreate before her eggs were too old and chromosomally abnormal to generate offspring.
That ratchets up the pressure on everything from education to economics and romance. Women who haven't found the right mate by 35 or who can't afford to leave the workplace, find themselves penalized by nature. For most, a genetically related child is not possible. If they want to experience pregnancy, the only option is egg donation. ECT and vitrification does an end-run around the biological clock. It affords a woman the luxury of time, precisely because she's stored her own eggs while in her reproductive prime. Those oocytes, when properly warmed, fertilized and transferred are as likely to yield offspring in five, 10 or even 20 years as they are today.
ECT liberates a woman to achieve emotional, psychological and financial maturity, secure in the knowledge that she can have children of her own.
About Dr. Geoffrey Sher
Dr. Geoffrey Sher, Executive Medical Director and co-founder of SIRM, is an internationally renowned expert in the field of Assisted ReproductiveTechnology (ART) and has been influential in the births of more than 16,000 babies throughout his career.
Over the last 26 years, Dr. Sher has helped fashion the entire field of ART. After training under "The Father of IVF" Dr. Patrick Steptoe, Dr. Sher established the first private IVF program in the United States in 1982. He later established a number of centers throughout California before foundingthe first SIRM office - in Las Vegas.
For more than two decades, Dr. Geoffrey Sher and his medical team have been on the leading edge of IVF research. Each significant breakthrough has been incorporated into SIRM treatment protocols - lending the benefit of those many years' of IVF experience to every SIRM office. Dr. Sher has more than 200 scientific papers and abstracts to his credit. He has authored one of the most widely read books on IVF, http://www.haveababy.com/why/artbook.aspIn Vitro Fertilization: The A.R.T.of Making Babies
About the Sher Institutes for Reproductive Medicine (SIRM(R))
SIRM is one of the largest networks of infertility medical practices in the country. Founded in 1998 by Drs. Geoffrey Sher and Ghanima Maassarani, the Sher Institute family of practices has since grown to include 13 offices across the United States.
Dr. Sher founded the first private InVitro Fertilization (IVF) clinic in the U.S. in 1982. The SIRM philosophy is centered on individualized patient care, backed by ongoing scientific and technological breakthroughs.
SIRM has offices in Los Angeles, Chino Hills, Sacramento and Pleasanton, CA; New York City,Westchester and Long Island, New York; Bedminster and Phillipsburg, New Jersey; Dallas, Texas; St. Louis, Missouri; Peoria, Illinois; and LasVegas, Nevada.
More information can be found on the SIRM website at http://www.haveababy.com.
About ReproCure, LLC
ReproCure, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a specialty genetics testing laboratory focused on benefiting: (1) women and couples who require assistance in becoming pregnant and (2) women seeking reproductive alternatives such as freezing their eggs for later use.
ReproCure is led by Medical Director Geoffrey Sher, MD and ScientificDirector Levent Keskintepe, PhD.
Source: prwire.com
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