Fw: New Technique for Breast Restoration

[Guest guest]

This sounds much like the article I posted in our files section about "Building a Better Breast", (about the company Reprogenesis.)

http://www.ivanhoe.com/story/p_newsflash.cfm?storyid=4466

New Technique for Breast Restoration

Sep. 30, 2002 -- Women may have a new option for restoring their breast after mastectomy. Researchers from the M.D. Cancer Center at the University of Texas in Houston say it's possible to grow a patient's own breast tissue after surgery. They have created a tissue-engineered construct that may be less painful and may make the breast look better than techniques used today.Lead researcher W. Jr., Ph.D., presented the new technology at the "Era of Hope" Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program meeting in Orlando. He says, "In essence, the patient becomes her own bioreactor for developing a new breast."The procedure starts with a computer image of the breast before mastectomy. A virtual scaffold, or exact shape of the breast, is created in a computer. Then, the scaffold is made with an outer layer of biodegradable polymer. The woman's fat and endothelial cells from the stomach are removed during surgery, much like a "tummy tuck," and placed into the scaffold. The scaffold is placed back into the breast, which then allows the breast to grow new tissue around it. Resorption occurred by five months in rats tested with this technique.Women today have the option of breast reconstruction or implantation. says there are a number of limitations with both procedures including unattractive scarring. One of the most common problems caused by breast implants is capsular contracture. This condition occurs when scar tissue around the implant hardens and begins to squeeze the implant. It can cause hardening of the breast tissue, rippling in the skin of the breast, and changes in the shape of the breast.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe Health Correspondent Shanida at the "Era of Hope" Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program meeting, Orlando, Fla., Sept. 25-28, 2002

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