A woman undergoing treatment for cervical cancer had one of her healthy ovaries successfully transplanted into her upper arm, in order to maintain hormonal function, a Dutch team reports.

The ovary has remained healthy and active for more than a year, according to an article in the medical journal Cancer.

Pelvic radiation to treat cancer can lead to infertility and premature ovarian failure, Dr. Carina G. Hilders, at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and fellow physicians explain in their report.

Attempts to reposition the ovaries within the abdomen but outside the radiation field may not successfully preserve function, since scattered radiation can still cause damage. The team therefore took the step of transplanting an ovary to a more distant site.

Before the woman underwent radical hysterectomy, the left ovary was dissected gently from the surrounding tissue. As one team performed the hysterectomy, a second team transplanted the ovary into the upper arm.

The artery and vein that carry blood to and from the ovary were connected to blood vessels in the arm. The use of surgical magnification glasses makes “the procedure relatively straightforward for an experienced transplantation or vascular surgeon with microsurgical skills,” the clinicians say.

Afterward, they report, the woman “experienced cyclic swellings of the upper arm without major discomfort and ultrasound monitoring showed follicular activity at different stages.”

SOURCE: Cancer, December 15, 2004.