Senior plastic surgeons of association said, stem-cell breast augmentations are unproven and should not be offered commercially.
“To think that this unproven research is hijacked and used in the commercial sector is really an appalling thought,” former BAAPS president and consultant plastic surgeon Adam Searle told the BBC. “Not least when it’s being utilized by inadequately trained practitioners.”
“Stem Cell” breast augmentation is a variation of traditional breast augmentation using fat grafting, which involves harvesting fat from areas where it is in excess – like the abdomen, hips, thighs, or buttocks – and re-implanting it in the breast for cosmetic and aesthetic purposes.
In “Stem Cell” augmentation, the harvested fat is enriched with stem cells before being grafted into the breasts. Half the harvested fat is put through a special machine that extracts and condenses the stem cells, which are then mixed with the remaining fat before being injected into the breasts.
The stem cells stimulate generation of a blood supply capillary network to the transplanted fat cells, which then integrate with the existing fat cells. As a result, less of the fat re-implanted into the breasts is reabsorbed by the body. The fat volume retention rate is estimated to be 80% or more.
In traditional breast augmentation using fat grafting 20 to 95 percent of transferred fat can be reabsorbed!
Earlier this week, new clinical data on cell-enriched fat grafting, based on a 12-month trial, was presented to a conference of the Oncoplastic Reconstructive Breast Surgery group, in Nottingham. The study involved 70 patients in seven centers in four countries.
Data from the study hasn’t been peer reviewed, but establishes the efficacy of the technique for breast reconstruction following mastectomy.
The study found no serious side-effects, nor did the procedure increase the chances of breast cancer recurrence (…)