Sask. researchers aim to help ovarian cancer survivors still be able to have kids after treatment

A team at the University of Saskatchewan wants to develop a service to help young ovarian cancer survivors have kids.

Researchers are trying to establish a reproductive cryobiology research program, which would allow girls diagnosed with ovarian cancer to freeze their ovarian tissue, so they could still have children after treatment.

"For many women and almost all girls, the one issue that they face is that most cancer treatments affect their future fertility options," said James Benson, an assistant professor of biology at the U of S, while on CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning. He's one of the researchers trying to launch the program.

"For women, there are some additional options that can happen. We can freeze their eggs; we can make eggs and turn them into embryos and freeze those embryos. But for girls, especially, there are no options to preserve their fertility."

LISTEN | U of S research hopes to give women and girls with ovarian cancer a chance to have children after their treatment: 

Saskatoon Morning10:37One-of-a-kind research at University of Saskatchewan is hoping to give women and girls with ovarian cancer a chance to have children even after their cancer treatment

University of Saskatchewan researchers want to give hope to women who may struggle to have kids after treatments for cancer. Host Leisha Grebinski talks with James Benson, associate professor at the U of S's department of biology who is part of a group there making strides in reproductive cryobiology, and Krysta Hawryluk, who was treated for ovarian cancer back in 2020.

Cryobiology focuses on biological samples in lower-than-normal temperatures.

Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue involves removing and preserving some tissue samples unaffected by the cancer, before a girl's ovaries are damaged by treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation and surgery, according to a news release issued by the university about the program.

The tissue can be re-implanted after the cancer is cured, allowing the female to have a child, the release said.

Such programs exist in European and American facilities, but they're not widely available in Canada.

A provincial ovarian tissue cryopreservation program does not exist in Saskatchewan, Benson said, and there is limited funding for things like fertility egg freezing.

There would be legal and bureaucratic hurdles to jump before it could be implemented, he said. His research team has the technology and expertise, but they're looking to acquire funding to hire the personnel and pay for the materials needed.

Kryst Hawryluk, a teacher in Prince Albert, Sask., who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2020, hopes the program comes to fruition, because it could make things less stressful for women and girls diagnosed with the disease.

"As a young girl, I had always wanted my own children. That was a big dream of mine. So having that taken away from me and having cancer at the same time was just so much to deal with," Hawryluk said.

"I'd wish that they could have this option to save their fertility and then they don't have to even worry about that … and they just have to deal with the cancer diagnosis — because that's hard enough in itself."

If the U of S team can get the program running, it would hope to expand its service to other provinces, Benson said.