NEW BREASTS IN 8 MONTHS

A technique that could allow cancer victims to regrow their breasts may be available in the UK as early as next year. The treatment, which could also be used in cosmetic procedures, uses stem cells to develop a breast in about eight months. Doctors will first insert a biodegradable bra-cup-shaped chamber into a patient’s chest that is attached to a redirected blood vessel from the armpit. Stem cells taken from fat on the patient’s body are stored in a test tube. This is then injected into the chamber. As the cells receive oxygen and nutrients via the new blood supply, they can multiply and grow. The walls of the chamber gradually disappear and the cells can integrate with the rest of the patient’s body — in effect growing a fresh breast.

TRIALS TO START SOON

The procedure has been successfully tested on pigs and mice in Australia and the researchers intend to start human tests in the next six months, having obtained approval from the country’s ethics committee. Kefah Mokbel, a leading British breast surgeon, said he will attempt it next spring if he gets the go-ahead from the committee. Sceptics say the doctors could be allowing cancerous cells to form again by using the method. Anthony Hollander, professor of tissue engineering at Bristol University, said: “They’ll have to demonstrate a technique that guarantees all the cancerous cells are removed and none is grown up in the process, so there is still some way to go.”

EXISTING PROBLEMS

Breast cancer victims have until now had two main options for breast reconstruction. First is saline or silicone implants, which are liable to cause scarring. The implants also often look and feel unnatural. There is also the option of a “tissue flap procedure”, where skin, fat, blood vessels and at least one abdominal muscle are moved from the abdomen to the chest. This leaves scars on both chest and abdomen and is likely to cause stomach muscles to weaken. Tessa Cunningham, 51, underwent a mastectomy in 2007 having been diagnosed with breast cancer. Like many other women, she had been put off breast reconstruction surgery because of the invasive nature of the procedures. “It means more surgery and scars,” she said.

WE CAN REBUILD IT

Stem cells are key to reconstructing parts of the body as the correct stem cell can be turned into almost any other kind of human cell. This means they can be used for a wide variety of treatments. Stem cell regeneration has come a long way in the past few years with doctors now in trials to create human hearts and other complex organs. Harvard scientists have succeeded in making strips of heart muscle cells in mice. Last year a 30-year-old woman became the first patient to receive a windpipe grown using her own stem cells. The transplant on Claudia Castillo, a Colombian living in Spain, was a success and, despite her trachea having been destroyed by tuberculosis, she can now breathe normally.

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