May 25, 2001. Copyright 2001. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

Theoretically possible for women to grow own breast implants

LONDON, May 25, Graphic News: Breast implants for reconstructive surgery after mastectomies, or to enhance what nature skimped on, may not be necessary in the future, according to Australian and American scientists competing to be the first to capture the lucrative market for replacement breasts for cancer patients and those demanding cosmetic breast enlargement.

Tissue engineers at the Institute of Microsurgery in Melbourne have developed a technique which could allow women to grow their own new breast tissue. The method developed by a team led by Dr. Kevin Cronin has been successfully tested on rats, mice and rabbits.

Rather than growing the patientÕs tissue in the lab and then transplanting it back into the body, as has been done in animal studies in the past, Cronin grows the tissue on site. The scientists insert a biodegradable polymer matrix or ÒscaffoldÓ into the area where the tissue is needed. Cells from surrounding tissue congregate on the scaffold which eventually disintegrates.

Cronin said his team has overcome the problem of providing a blood supply to the tissue by using a so-called Òvascular loopÓ in the scaffold to generate new blood vessels for the growing tissue.

American bioengineers Craig R. Halberstadt and Walter D. Holder Jr. of Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, have applied similar techniques to grow new breast tissue in rats -- they also have high hopes for success in human patients.

Their technique, being developed with funding from biotech company Reprogenesis, would take a biopsy of a patientÕs fatty tissue, isolate cells from this biopsy and multiply these cells outside the body. The womanÕs  own cells would then be returned to her in the scaffold. ÒMost of us have a couple of extra litres of fat,Ó Halberstadt said.

The scaffold consists of sodium alginate -- a seaweed-derived substance mostly used as an ice cream thickener. Halberstadt primes the alginate scaffold with a growth-promoting protein that signals to the bodyÕs vascular system that the tissue is blood-vessel friendly.

The growth protein diffuses into surrounding tissues, encouraging existing blood vessels to grow into the scaffold. Ultimately, cells growing from both sides of the implant knit together to form continuous blood vessels. Natural cell growth and the deterioration of the scaffold leads back to the formation of completely new, natural tissue. 

However, this process would create only a soft-tissue mass, not the complex system that makes up a true breast. Nevertheless, it could provide an alternative to current breast prostheses or implants.

CroninÕs team admits that much more research needs to be done to perfect the technique but they believe it will have applications in breast and facial surgery.

ÒWe were just so happy at getting the desired tissue to grow at all that we havenÕt got around to working out how to control issues such as size and shape,Ó Cronin said.

If the technique proves successful it could relieve concerns over the use of silicone and other types of implants in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery.

However, the technique could pose problems for women who have had breast cancer because there would be no guarantee that the new tissue would not contain the mechanism that caused the cancer.

Breast surgery is one of the most popular types of cosmetic surgery. In Britain alone 8,000 women a year have their breasts enlarged. Many breast cancer patients also choose to have an implant after a mastectomy.
/ENDS
Sources: Reuters, New Scientist, Scientific American