The press review index from 23 to 27 July 2007

ICSI treatment increases

The New England Journal of Medicine has published a study (lead author - Dr Tarun Jain of the University of Illinois) which reveals that fertility clinics are increasingly using intracytoplasmic sperm injection or ICSI, including for men with no fertility problems.

In the USA in 2004, nearly 58% of in vitro fertilisation cycles used ICSI, while the level of male infertility was estimated at approximately 30%. Between 1995 and 2004, the percentage of procedures using ICSI increased from 11 to 57.5%, while the rate of male infertility did not increase.

According to Dr Jain, further studies are needed to establish whether this tendency is justified: it has not yet been proved that ICSI increases the chances of conception.

Bio News 23/07/07

According to a study by the University of Minnesota, transplants of umbilical cord blood are as effective as those of bone marrow for the treatment of leukaemia. Cord blood transplants have the advantages of a lower risk of rejection and of being available in greater numbers and more easily. The stock of cord blood is estimated at 300,000 units and only about two weeks is necessary to prepare for transplantation, as opposed to the two to four months needed to find a bone marrow donor.

The University of Kansas has received $350,000 to finance research on cord blood stem cells.

www.insightnews.com (Deane Morrison) 13/07/07 - www.vet.ksu.edu/research/stemcell

Adult stem cells for treating diseases of the cornea

Researchers at the University of Navarra (Area of Cellular Therapy – University Clinic) have demonstrated the effectiveness of adult stem cells in the treatment of disorders of the cornea.

The researchers first took a biopsy sample of stem cells from the cornea of the healthy eye. The cells were then reimplanted in the damaged eye which regained its epithelium, thus restoring the transparency of the cornea. On 70 rabbits, the success rate was 60%

Life News 24/07/07

Great Britain: screening for cancer predisposition gets the go-ahead

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has just authorised pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) for the selection of embryos free from mutations associated with inherited predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer.

Dr Paul Serhal’s team at University College Hospital, London welcomed this ground-breaking decision: "PGD can now be used in cases where the risk is estimated to be less than 100%". When there are family antecedents, the risk of breast cancer is estimated at between 60% and 80%, and at 40% for ovarian cancer.

Until today, PGD was permitted to eliminate embryos with particularly serious genetic disorders. Now, PGD will be used for identifying embryos which are simply considered to have the possibility, later, of developing cancer.

Le Monde (Jean-Yves Nau) 25/07/07