Australian scientists said they have developed a revolutionary treatment which will allow women to regrow their breasts after cancer surgery.
Doctors from Melbourne’s Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery said they have come up with an implantable device that uses a woman’s own fat cells to grow back breasts following mastectomy.
“We have tested it on several animal models, so we have done enough testing preclinical to be confident now to take the step with human trials,” said Dr. Phillip Marzella, the institute’s chief operating officer.
He said that trials on pigs had proved “very successful.” The only question was whether the human body could grow fat in the breast area.
“We are starting what is called a prototype trial in the next three to six months — a proof of principle trial with about five to six women just to demonstrate that the body can regrow its own fat supply in the breast,” Marzella said.
He said the aim is not to seek to grow a whole breast, but to remedy the imperfection or asymmetry issue with the breasts after a mastectomy or partial mastectomy by allowing the implanted fat to grow.
This new surgical procedure could replace breast reconstructions and implants within the next few years.
[via newsdaily.com]
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