Cancer operation could see breasts 'regrown'
A procedure enabling women to ‘regrow’ breasts following a mastectomy - which could one day be used to replace organs - will be trialled on humans within the next year.
Doctors in Australia say the procedure, in which a biodegradable chamber placed inside the chest cavity is used to grow fat, could one day replace breast reconstruction and implants.
Phillip Marzella, a spokesman for the Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery, said the operation had the potential to be used in internal medicine, but added such a development was “unlikely” within the next five years.
“We are hoping to move on to other organs using the same principle - a chamber that protects and contains cells as they grow and they restore their normal function,” he said.
“In terms of cosmetic use, we probably don’t envisage this in the next five to ten years, so I think in the first instance it is very much reconstructive therapies that would benefit from it.”