Australian scientists said they were able to develop a revolutionary treatment which would allow women to regrow their breasts after cancer surgery.
Doctors from Melbourne’s Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery said they had developed an implantable device that uses a woman’s own fat cells to grow back breasts following a mastectomy.
“We have tested it in 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.
Trials on pigs had proved “very successful” and the question was whether the human body could grow fat in the breast area, he said.
“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.
The trial, according to Marzella, is not to seek to grow a whole breast but to remedy the imperfection or asymmetry issue with their breasts after a mastectomy or partial mastectomy by allowing the implanted fat to grow.
This new surgical procedure is hoped to replace breast reconstructions and implants within the next few years.
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