You just learned your child has cancer, and now you must quickly absorb a barrage of information and make fast treatment decisions. But before you move ahead, consider another life-changing decision: Do you want to preserve your child’s fertility?
VALHALLA, N.Y., February 13, 2013—A team led by a New York Medical College physician-researcher has discovered the factors that decrease female fertility as a woman ages.
The findings, which were published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine, could lead to new research that could potentially boost a woman’s fertility in her later years.
Led by Kutluk Oktay, M.D., a clinician scientist specializing in preserving the fertility of female cancer patients, a research team examined eggs collected from women aged 24-41 undergoing in vitro fertilization and fertility preservation procedures. The researchers found that as eggs get older, they lose their ability to repair DNA double-strand breaks.
