By Aislinn Simpson
Last Updated: 5:23PM BST 29 Mar 2009
The treatment implants stem cells taken from spare fat on the stomach or thighs into a woman's chest.
At present, its focus is on providing breast cancer sufferers who have undergone full or partial mastectomies with an alternative to implants.
But if successful, it could also vastly improve the outcome of cosmetic breast enhancements.
Professor Kefah Mokbel, a consultant breast surgeon at the London Breast Institute at the Princess Grace hospital, is leading a trial with 10 patients from May.
He said that while helping women who have suffered from breast cancer is the London Breast Institute's priority, private patients could also benefit from the new technique within six months at a cost of about ?6,500.
The same technique has proved a success in Japan where it was initially used to help women with breast cancer and now is used to provide healthy women with breast enlargements.
"This is a very exciting advance in breast surgery," Prof Mokbel said. "Breasts treated with stem cells feel more natural because this tissue has the same softness as the rest of the breast."
The cells are extracted then separated from the fat before being mixed with another batch of fat and injected into the breast. While it takes several months for the breast to achieve the desired shape and size, the presence of stem cells means that blood vessels can grow and ensure supply to the transplanted fat.
As it stands, Professor Mokbel said, the procedure only provides for minor alterations in size, and does not deliver the pneumatic quality of a fake implant.
But it is also be far more likely to be a success. "Implants are a foreign body," he said.
"They are associated with long-term complications and require replacement. They can also leak and cause scarring."
Prof Mokbel will also conduct research to find out whether larger augmentations can be achieved: "We are optimistic we can easily achieve an increase of one cup size. We cannot say yet if we can achieve more. That may depend on the stem cells we can harvest."
He believes that the cosmetic aspect can be offered after 30 successful trials. But critics say that breast enlargements using the technique should not be offered until large-scale cancer patient trials are completed.
Eva Weiler-Mithoff, a consultant plastic surgeon at Canniesburn hospital in Glasgow who is helping to run a European trial of the stem cell therapy for breast cancer sufferers, said that the initial results are good, the follow-up is vital. She said that while breast cancer patients regularly attend follow-up appointments, women who have had cosmetic surgery may not be so careful and so complications could be missed.
Last Updated: 5:23PM BST 29 Mar 2009
The treatment implants stem cells taken from spare fat on the stomach or thighs into a woman's chest.
At present, its focus is on providing breast cancer sufferers who have undergone full or partial mastectomies with an alternative to implants.
But if successful, it could also vastly improve the outcome of cosmetic breast enhancements.
Professor Kefah Mokbel, a consultant breast surgeon at the London Breast Institute at the Princess Grace hospital, is leading a trial with 10 patients from May.
He said that while helping women who have suffered from breast cancer is the London Breast Institute's priority, private patients could also benefit from the new technique within six months at a cost of about ?6,500.
The same technique has proved a success in Japan where it was initially used to help women with breast cancer and now is used to provide healthy women with breast enlargements.
"This is a very exciting advance in breast surgery," Prof Mokbel said. "Breasts treated with stem cells feel more natural because this tissue has the same softness as the rest of the breast."
The cells are extracted then separated from the fat before being mixed with another batch of fat and injected into the breast. While it takes several months for the breast to achieve the desired shape and size, the presence of stem cells means that blood vessels can grow and ensure supply to the transplanted fat.
As it stands, Professor Mokbel said, the procedure only provides for minor alterations in size, and does not deliver the pneumatic quality of a fake implant.
But it is also be far more likely to be a success. "Implants are a foreign body," he said.
"They are associated with long-term complications and require replacement. They can also leak and cause scarring."
Prof Mokbel will also conduct research to find out whether larger augmentations can be achieved: "We are optimistic we can easily achieve an increase of one cup size. We cannot say yet if we can achieve more. That may depend on the stem cells we can harvest."
He believes that the cosmetic aspect can be offered after 30 successful trials. But critics say that breast enlargements using the technique should not be offered until large-scale cancer patient trials are completed.
Eva Weiler-Mithoff, a consultant plastic surgeon at Canniesburn hospital in Glasgow who is helping to run a European trial of the stem cell therapy for breast cancer sufferers, said that the initial results are good, the follow-up is vital. She said that while breast cancer patients regularly attend follow-up appointments, women who have had cosmetic surgery may not be so careful and so complications could be missed.