Health: Pioneering child cancer care

A two-year-old boy who needs a bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy that will leave him sterile, is to undergo pioneering treatment in the hope he will still be able to father children. The new technique, which could help thousands of other young boys with cancer, was given the go- ahead by the lawyers for the Human Embryology and Fertilisation Authority yesterday. They have ruled that Oscar von Memery can have the treatment without having to give the written consent normally required by law.

Doctors will remove testicular tissue cells from Oscar, who has a rare metabolic disorder, before his therapy starts. The cells will be frozen, to be re- injected after Oscar reaches puberty in the hope he will then be able to father children.