Astonishing Discovery 2016: Cancer Drug Could Reverse Infertility In Women [STUDY]

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There is renewed hope for women having fertility issues, as latest findings by scientists in London shows that a common cancer drug may have the ability to trigger the development of new eggs. If this discovery can be repeated, it will mean a second chance at fertility for women around the world.

Science has taught us that men can replenish their sperm count, but women are born with their lifetime supply of eggs. This is why conceiving becomes harder with age because the eggs grow old, become damaged and eventually run out entirely.

The discovery by researchers from University of Edinburgh proved it is possible to reverse the clock and take the ovaries back to a pre-pubescent state where they begin to produce new eggs. The study, found that women who had undergone chemotherapy for Hodgkin's Lymphoma with a cancer drug known as ABVD had up to 10 times the number of eggs in healthy women.

According to Uncova, the study was originally designed to check why ABVD, unlike other cancer treatments did not affect women's fertility. However, in the course of the research, the team noted that many of the women taking ABVD had far more eggs than normal for females of their age and even double to four times the expected amount.

The drug caused new eggs to be produced in the ovaries of young women who were given the drug as part of their cancer treatment. The lead researcher, Professor Evelyn Telfer said that they were astonished when they saw what happened to the tissues as they looked like pre-pubescent tissue with a high density of follicles and clustering that is normally not seen in an adult. The professor continued:

 "We knew that ABVD does not have a sterilizing effect like other cancer, but to find new eggs being made in such huge numbers, that was very surprising to see."

Telfer said, it looks like something is being activated in the stem or germline cells and we need to find out what that mechanism is. It could be that the harshness of the treatment triggers some kind of shock effect or perturbation which stimulates the stem cells into producing new eggs.

She said, it is too early for the drug to become a part of any fertility treatments just yet, but the unexpected findings suggest that women may not have to accept their eggs as a permanent set amount but rather something that may be replenished, according to Medicaldaily.

"I think it is a pretty big deal. It is the first time that we have ever been able to see new follicles forming within the ovary and it may only be a small number of women, but it is significant that the same effect was seen in all of the women on ABVD. The outcome may be significant and far-reaching."

Far from causing fertility issues, the cancer drugs may have actually improved their fertility. The researchers speculate that shock from the chemotherapy may have trigger stem cells in the ovaries into producing new follicles, the hollow hair-like structures which each produce a single egg.

According to Telfer, although it is not entirely clear whether the drug led to the increase in eggs in these women, the sheer number of excess eggs suggests that the eggs are newly formed and had not been inside the women for the duration of their lives.