Cancer treatments such as chemotherapy save lives, but they often damage the ovaries and testes. This can lead to infertility in both women and men, which is one of the most difficult problems for cancer survivors. Finding ways to protect or restore fertility is therefore an important part of cancer care. Our paper looks at very small particles called exosomes. These are natural messengers that carry proteins and genetic material between cells. We explain how chemotherapy changes these exosomes in a way that increases damage to reproductive organs. At the same time, we show that exosomes from stem cells may help repair this damage. In laboratory studies, they have been shown to protect eggs and sperm, and reduce cell death of the reproductive organs during the chemotherapy. Exosomes can also act as simple blood-based tests to detect damage and monitor recovery. This research is important because it points to new, less invasive ways to protect fertility during and after cancer treatment. If successful, exosome-based therapies could give patients not only a chance of survival but also the hope of having children in the future.
Abady et al. (Thu,) studied this question.