Prof. Jacques Donnez

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  www.consultantlive.com/medicalNews/showArticle.jhtml?ar - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/2/2007    Last Visited: 8/18/2007  

  The transplant of ovarian tissue between a 32-year-old Belgian woman and her 35-year-old sister who had premature ovarian failure restored menstruation and produced viable eggs, reported Jacques Donnez, M.D., Ph.D., of the Catholic University of Louvain here, and colleagues.
  
  Importantly, the researchers noted in Human Reproduction, the women were HLA-indentical because of an earlier bone marrow transplant to the recipient.
  
  "Our findings offer hope to young patients facing premature ovarian failure, who have not had the chance to cryopreserve their oocytes, embryos or ovarian cortex," Dr. Donnez said.
  
  Furthermore, the procedure could theoretically be used between unrelated women if they were HLA compatible and had a prior bone marrow transplant to the recipient, he speculated.
  ...
  It was this report in 2005 that led the transplant recipient, Teresa Alvaro, to Dr. Donnez.
  ...
  "I didn't hesitate for a second and went to see Prof. Donnez together with my sister."
  
  Dr. Donnez discussed egg donation with Teresa Alvaro, but she refused this option and requested a graft.Furthermore, "her sister expressly asked to be the tissue donor and refused to undergo ovarian stimulation for oocyte donation," he noted.
  ...
  Dr. Donnez noted that failure of embryos to develop also occurs during normal cycles of in vitro fertilization and that the patient was planning further attempts.
  
  He and his colleagues concluded, "these promising results should encourage continued efforts to preserve fertility in patients having to undergo chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy."

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  member.principalhealthnews.com/article/healthday/680012 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/2/2007    Last Visited: 11/29/2007  

  Nevertheless, the procedure does support the "restoration of ovarian function after transplantation of ovarian tissue from genetically un-identical sisters," said lead researcher Dr. Jacques Donnez, head of the department of gynecology and professor and chairman at the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels.
  
  Previously, other researchers had successfully transplanted ovarian tissue between genetically identical twin sisters.
  
  The most important factor here is that it does not seem necessary to use powerful immunosuppressive therapy to maintain the transplant, Donnez said.Drugs typically used to suppress an immune response against the transplant can damage a growing embryo, he explained.
  
  This method of restoring ovarian function might be used when a woman has undergone chemotherapy or radiation, which can destroy ovarian function, Donnez said."Women can also have ovarian tissue frozen before undergoing treatment and transplanted back after the end of chemotherapy," he said.
  
  But oncologists don't often propose this option, Donnez said.
  
  Although the possibility of oocyte donation from her sister, Sandra Alvaro, was discussed, the patient refused this option, Donnez said.
  ...
  Donnez's team knew that because the sisters' HLA type allowed their genetically different cells to coexist successfully, there was no need for immunosuppressive treatment to prevent the ovarian transplant from being rejected.
  ...
  Why the embryos didn't develop is not clear, but this also happens during normal cycles of IVF, Donnez said.However, it's too early to know whether this procedure would ever be successful in letting a woman get pregnant and give birth to a live baby, he said.
  
  "The first thing the gynecologist and oncologist need to think about before chemotherapy is to propose cryopreservation [freezing] of ovarian tissue before chemotherapy.That's the first option," Donnez said."The second option is cryopreservation of embryos," he said.
  ...
  SOURCES: Jacques Donnez, M.D., head, department of gynecology, professor and chairman, Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels; Richard J. Paulson, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology, chief, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles; Aug. 2, 2007, Human Reproduction

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  www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/esfh-fco073107. - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/31/2007    Last Visited: 8/2/2007  

  Professor Jacques Donnez, head of the department of gynaecology and professor and chairman at the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels, Belgium, led the team that carried out the work [2].
  ...
  In July 2005, now aged 35, Teresa consulted Prof Donnez and his colleagues about the possibility of ovarian tissue transplantation from her sister to give her a chance of becoming pregnant.
  ...
  Prof Donnez said: "Having already provided bone marrow in 1990, her sister, who was now aged 32 and had never become pregnant, badly wanted to help her sister by donating some of her own ovarian tissue.
  ...
  Prof Donnez said: "We do not know why the embryos ceased to develop, but this also happens during normal cycles of IVF.The patient is planning more IVF attempts in the future."
  
  He said that it was too early to say whether this procedure would ever be successful enough to enable a woman to become pregnant successfully and give birth to a live baby.However, the work did give hope to women who had not had an opportunity to freeze either their eggs or their ovarian tissue, and it emphasised the importance of leaving at least one ovary in place during any treatment because the ovary offered an excellent site for a subsequent transplant of ovarian tissue.
  
  "This method is an option for women who have not had their ovarian tissue cryopreserved, either because chemotherapy was given before 1996, or because cryopreservation was not proposed or not available in the hospital where the patient was treated," he said.
  
  "In theory, the procedure could also be used between two, unrelated women, as long as the two women were HLA compatible and if the donor had previously given bone marrow to the recipient, as in the case we are reporting here," he concluded.
  ...
  I didn't hesitate for a second and went to see Prof Donnez together with my sister.
  ...
  [2] Prof Donnez had previously reported the first case of woman becoming pregnant and giving birth after her own, frozen ovarian tissue had been transplanted back into her after she had successfully recovered from treatment for cancer.

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  www.ump.com/17-Gynecology.htm - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 7/11/2008    Last Visited: 7/11/2008  

  Roland Polet, M.D., Consultant, Jaques Donnez, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Gynecology, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Louvain-en-Woluwe, BELGIUM

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  www.biosymposia.org/content22953.html - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/11/2007    Last Visited: 8/11/2007  

  Jacques Donnez, M.D.Professor

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  www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=606953 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/2/2007    Last Visited: 9/26/2007  

  The most important factor here is that it does not seem necessary to use powerful immunosuppressive therapy to maintain the transplant, Donnez said.Drugs typically used to suppress an immune response against the transplant can damage a growing embryo, he explained.
  
  This method of restoring ovarian function might be used when a woman has undergone chemotherapy or radiation, which can destroy ovarian function, Donnez said."Women can also have ovarian tissue frozen before undergoing treatment and transplanted back after the end of chemotherapy," he said.
  
  But oncologists don't often propose this option, Donnez said.
  
  Although the possibility of oocyte donation from her sister, Sandra Alvaro, was discussed, the patient refused this option, Donnez said.
  ...
  Donnez's team knew that because the sisters' HLA type allowed their genetically different cells to coexist successfully, there was no need for immunosuppressive treatment to prevent the ovarian transplant from being rejected.
  ...
  Why the embryos didn't develop is not clear, but this also happens during normal cycles of IVF, Donnez said.However, it's too early to know whether this procedure would ever be successful in letting a woman get pregnant and give birth to a live baby, he said.
  
  "The first thing the gynecologist and oncologist need to think about before chemotherapy is to propose cryopreservation [freezing] of ovarian tissue before chemotherapy.That's the first option," Donnez said."The second option is cryopreservation of embryos," he said.
  ...
  SOURCES: Jacques Donnez, M.D., head, department of gynecology, professor and chairman, Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels; Richard J. Paulson, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology, chief, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles; Aug. 2, 2007, Human Reproduction

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  www.ivf.net/ivf/index.php?page=out&id=1349 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 3/29/2005    Last Visited: 8/6/2007  

  Professor Jacques Donnez, leader of the Belgian research team, presented the new research at the annual conference of the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in London.The research was first reported in Venice at the 12th World Congress on Human Reproduction.Donnez said that the woman was not yet pregnant, but her menstrual cycle had started again and the signs were that her reproductive function had returned.He told the conference that the woman was delighted with how her treatment had gone so far: 'She didn't menstruate for two years and the first time she started bleeding again she knew she was still a woman and she was very pleased', he said.He also said that 'we are hoping that she will now be able to become pregnant like the last patient, but we do not know how long that may take'.
  
  Professor Alan Trounson, a fertility expert and stem cell researcher at Monash University in Australia, described Professor Donnez's latest success as 'fantastic', adding 'it gives strong credibility to what he has been doing'.

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  www.ivf.net/content//index.php?page=out&id=1349 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 3/29/2005    Last Visited: 3/3/2007  

  Professor Jacques Donnez, leader of the Belgian research team, presented the new research at the annual conference of the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in London.The research was first reported in Venice at the 12th World Congress on Human Reproduction.Donnez said that the woman was not yet pregnant, but her menstrual cycle had started again and the signs were that her reproductive function had returned.He told the conference that the woman was delighted with how her treatment had gone so far: 'She didn't menstruate for two years and the first time she started bleeding again she knew she was still a woman and she was very pleased', he said.He also said that 'we are hoping that she will now be able to become pregnant like the last patient, but we do not know how long that may take'.
  
  Professor Alan Trounson, a fertility expert and stem cell researcher at Monash University in Australia, described Professor Donnez's latest success as 'fantastic', adding 'it gives strong credibility to what he has been doing'.

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  news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20070803/hl_hsn/ovariantissuesucce - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/3/2007    Last Visited: 8/3/2007  

  Nevertheless, the procedure does support the "restoration of ovarian function after transplantation of ovarian tissue from genetically un-identical sisters," said lead researcher Dr. Jacques Donnez, head of the department of gynecology and professor and chairman at the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels.
  
  Previously, other researchers had successfully transplanted ovarian tissue between genetically identical twin sisters.
  
  The most important factor here is that it does not seem necessary to use powerful immunosuppressive therapy to maintain the transplant, Donnez said.Drugs typically used to suppress an immune response against the transplant can damage a growing embryo, he explained.
  
  This method of restoring ovarian function might be used when a woman has undergone chemotherapy or radiation, which can destroy ovarian function, Donnez said."Women can also have ovarian tissue frozen before undergoing treatment and transplanted back after the end of chemotherapy," he said.
  
  But oncologists don't often propose this option, Donnez said.
  
  Although the possibility of oocyte donation from her sister, Sandra Alvaro, was discussed, the patient refused this option, Donnez said.
  ...
  Donnez's team knew that because the sisters' HLA type allowed their genetically different cells to coexist successfully, there was no need for immunosuppressive treatment to prevent the ovarian transplant from being rejected.
  ...
  Why the embryos didn't develop is not clear, but this also happens during normal cycles of IVF, Donnez said.However, it's too early to know whether this procedure would ever be successful in letting a woman get pregnant and give birth to a live baby, he said.
  
  "The first thing the gynecologist and oncologist need to think about before chemotherapy is to propose cryopreservation [freezing] of ovarian tissue before chemotherapy.That's the first option," Donnez said."The second option is cryopreservation of embryos," he said.

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  spiderweb.mol.net/news/10/12568/STORY - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/6/2007    Last Visited: 8/6/2007  

  The most important factor here is that it does not seem necessary to use powerful immunosuppressive therapy to maintain the transplant, Donnez said.Drugs typically used to suppress an immune response against the transplant can damage a growing embryo, he explained.
  
  This method of restoring ovarian function might be used when a woman has undergone chemotherapy or radiation, which can destroy ovarian function, Donnez said."Women can also have ovarian tissue frozen before undergoing treatment and transplanted back after the end of chemotherapy," he said.
  
  But oncologists don"t often propose this option, Donnez said.
  
  Although the possibility of oocyte donation from her sister, Sandra Alvaro, was discussed, the patient refused this option, Donnez said.
  ...
  Donnez"s team knew that because the sisters" HLA type allowed their genetically different cells to coexist successfully, there was no need for immunosuppressive treatment to prevent the ovarian transplant from being rejected.
  ...
  Why the embryos didn"t develop is not clear, but this also happens during normal cycles of IVF, Donnez said.However, it"s too early to know whether this procedure would ever be successful in letting a woman get pregnant and give birth to a live baby, he said.
  
  "The first thing the gynecologist and oncologist need to think about before chemotherapy is to propose cryopreservation [freezing] of ovarian tissue before chemotherapy.That"s the first option," Donnez said."The second option is cryopreservation of embryos," he said.
  ...
  SOURCES: Jacques Donnez, M.D., head, department of gynecology, professor and chairman, Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels; Richard J. Paulson, M.D., professor of obstetrics and gynecology, chief, Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles; Aug. 2, 2007, Human Reproduction

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