Thanks to more than two decades of animal and clinical research, dozens of women who lacked a uterus have received the organ via donation and transplant surgery, and many of these patients have had successful pregnancies. While the procedure was developed explicitly for the purpose of rescuing a woman’s reproductive capacity, scientists are taking advantage of the unique model to ask some basic research questions about endometrial turnover and other aspects of uterine biology, as well as questions about transplantation, and specifically, immune rejection of an organ. After every uterus transplant, recipients undergo regular blood draws and cervical biopsies—samples that clinical trial researchers are actively interrogating and banking for future studies. A few of those research directions are illustrated below.
Immunosuppressant drugs designed to help recipients accept the transplanted uterus can be discontinued prior to having the organ removed. From cervical biopsies and other samples, researchers can watch for signs ...
