UK Teenager Becomes First in Country to Receive Testicular Tissue Transplant

The patient, who asked to remain anonymous, had no sperm in his semen three years after chemotherapy, tests showed. A team of NHS medics in Edinburgh transplanted his previously frozen testicular tissue back into his body. The tissue contains spermatogonial stem cells, which are responsible for producing sperm from puberty onwards. Doctors should know within months whether the transplant has enabled him to produce viable sperm.

“Fertility is something I’ve struggled with personally for a long time,” the patient said. “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.” He added: “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. I’m incredibly grateful to everyone for giving me this opportunity and for all the work that has made it possible. I also hope that being part of this research means that, in the future, other young people in the same position can have that hope too.”

Freezing semen is an established fertility preservation method for older teenagers and adult men, but it is not an option for pre-pubescent boys. The transplant potentially opens a door to fertility preservation for children needing cancer care and other treatments that require chemotherapy. The procedure was carried out by medics at NHS Lothian and backed by funding from Children with Cancer UK, following a decade of research by the University of Edinburgh.

Rod Mitchell, professor of developmental endocrinology at Edinburgh’s Institute for Regeneration and Repair and a consultant paediatric endocrinologist at NHS Lothian, said: “This is a big step towards helping boys facing treatments that damage their fertility to have children of their own.” He said the research programme began 10 years ago to freeze and store pieces of testicle from boys before they start chemotherapy, and that young men were beginning to return to explore their fertility options. “This study offers real hope for future fertility in boys facing cancer treatment,” he said.

Tracey Gillies, medical director at NHS Lothian, called the operation a “landmark procedure” and an important step forward for children whose fertility may be affected by treatment they needed to overcome serious illness. She added: “We are grateful to the patient and his family for helping advance research that could transform care for others in the future.”

In May, The Guardian reported that a man whose testicular tissue was frozen before he had chemotherapy as a child and retransplanted 16 years later had been able to produce sperm. The University of Edinburgh said more than 1,200 patients in the UK and 3,100 worldwide had had testicular tissue stored for potential future use.