Restoring Fertility in Sterile Childhood Cancer Survivors by Autotransplanting Spermatogonial Stem Cells: Are We There Yet?

Figure 1

Potential risks of in vitro SSC propagation and subsequent SSC transplantation. In in vitro propagated SSCs cultures derived from a patient testis biopsy, there is the risk that unwanted cells, such as lingering tumor cells from the patient or spontaneously formed colonies of ES-like cells, are present in the material used for transplantation. Structural integrity of propagated SSCs might be affected due to culture conditions, either on the genetic or the epigenetic level. Alterations that arise in vitro can potentially influence the health of the recipient patient or the offspring of that patient.