- BostonHerald
on Oct 14,2007.
Doc's 'supercharged' plan
Fat-derived stem cells key to breast augmentation
By Jessica Fargen / Making the Rounds, Sunday, October 14, 2007
A Brookline dermatologist is vowing to become the first doctor in America to perform an experimental procedure that uses liposuctioned tummy fat and stem cells to boost women's breast sizes. Dr. Jafar Koupaie says he plans to use a procedure that transforms a woman's fat into a "supercharged," stem cell-concentrated solution that can be injected into her breasts, allowing them to grow up to three cup sizes. His wife, Shohreh, is eager to be one of his first patients. [...]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says Koupaie needs its approval and some plastic surgeons say the use of fat-derived stem cells for breast augmentation is promising but untested. There's little proof it works, said Dr. Sydney Coleman, a New York University-affiliated plastic surgeon who is familiar with the general process, but not specifically Koupaie's plans. "Right now we're at the stage where this is a promising technique, but it really needs some science," he said [...]
The number of breast implant surgeries in the United States has skyrocketed 55 percent since 2000, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Additionally, in 2006, while nearly 330,000 breast augmentation surgeries were performed, 30,000 women had their implants removed.
That's evidence that women want something better, said Dr. Kotaro Yoshimura, a 46-year-old Japanese plastic surgeon and professor at the University of Tokyo who has used fat-derived stem cells for breast augmentations - a procedure called cell-assisted lipotransfer - on 100 women since 2003, and has met with Koupaie.
"There is a big market and lots of patients," Yoshimura told the Herald in a phone interview from Japan. "This kind of alternative method will be welcomed by patients." Koupaie spent 10 days in Japan this summer with Yoshimura learning about the technology. Yoshimura plans to visit Boston this month to see Koupaie.
During Yoshimura's procedure, a doctor uses a portion of the liquid fat from liposuction, extracts the stem cells and creates a supercharged solution that is injected into the breasts.
Doctors have injected fat into breasts and other parts of the body for years, but with disappointing results because the fat cells die without a blood supply. The enhanced number of stem cells creates an early blood supply for the fat tissue, said Yoshimura. Yoshimura said he's unsure if his cell-assisted lipotransfer system would be allowed by the FDA, although it is being performed in Japan. [...]
The FDA banned silicone gel implants in 1991 amid complaints of leakage and worries that their use could lead to cancer or connective-tissue disorders, leaving saline implants as the only option. The FDA lifted the silicone breast implant ban in November 2006 after studies found they were safe. "He's a prime example of the appetite of plastic surgeons and patients to want to move forward with solving this synthetic problem," [...]
Koupaie said he has several patients lined up and hopes to start the procedure in November. One of his first patients will be his 46-year-old wife and mother of his twin 8-year-old sons. "It seems like it's the safest way because there's nothing foreign in my body," said Koupaie's wife, Shohreh Deyhim Koupaie. "It's all my own (cells). I feel comfortable doing it this way."
Another one of Koupaie's customers, Susan Leaf, a Boston business owner, is eager as well. "I'm totally excited about what Dr. Koupaie is doing," said Leaf, a mom of a teen-ager.She said breast implants she got 15 years ago look fake under her thin skin. "What he is proposing sounds revolutionary to me and would be an absolute answer and something you could feel good about. It won't feel like an implant that is fake."
- 'CBS news'
on Mar 27,2007.
Japan Rethinks Breast Implants
A Japanese clinic is pioneering a breast augmentation procedure that involves injecting a mixture of a patient's fat and stem cells instead of using an implant. Lucy Craft has the details. - 'BBC news'
on Feb 12, 2007.
Stem cells used to boost breasts
Scientists in Japan claim to be able to increase the size of a woman's breasts using fat and stem cells. The technique uses fat from the stomach or thigh which is then enriched with stem cells before being injected. It is hoped the method could prove a more natural-looking alternative to artificial implants filled with salt water or silicone. But plastic surgeons working in Britain have greeted news of the technique with "extreme caution."
Kotaro Yoshimura, a surgeon at the Tokyo University medical school, said more than 40 patients had been treated. Mr Yoshimura said he believed the stem cell and fat combination, which can increase a woman's cupsize by two sizes, was a success. "There have been no serious complications," he said. During the operation, surgeons suck fat cells from the stomach or thigh, and this "slurry" is enriched so that there are higher numbers than usual of stem cells. These are "master" cells which are capable of making new fat cells. When the enriched stem cell mixture is combined with normal fat tissue, it can then be injected into the breast area.
- 'TIMES'
on Feb 11, 2007.
Now you can grow your own breast implants
BRITISH women may be offered a "natural" form of breast enlargement that uses stem cells and fat from a woman's own body, under plans being considered by doctors.
The technique, pioneered in Japan, results in breasts that look and feel smoother than conventional cosmetic surgery using implants. This is because the stem cells enable the fat to grow its own blood supply, thus becoming an integral part of the breast rather than a foreign lump.
Stem cells have the potential to change into any cells in the body. They are found in most tissues, especially fat.
Dozens of women in Japan have received the breast enlargements during trials. Last week German medical authorities gave approval to the process. Under Brussels rules, this means that the procedure is now legal throughout the European Union, including Britain. Doctors here said last week they found the technique "appealing". The technique's long-term effectiveness without side?effects still needs further tests, but doctors are already enthusiastic.
- "Nikkei" Morning Edition
on JAN 10 2007.
About productivity
Annually, 16,000 Japanese go to Bangkok, Thailand, to have an operation for vision restoration. The Johns Hopkins Hospital plans to form a partnership with a new clinic that will be open in Roppongi in Tokyo in March of this year. In July 2006, "Cellport Clinic Yokohama", the first clinic run by a company in accordance with the Law on Special Zones For Structural Reform", opened in Kanagawa.
- "AERA"('07.1.15)
on JAN 6, 2007.
Remedy for hope
If the healthcare industry, including medical, welfare, and nursing care businesses, can convert to a service industry, it may lead to job creation and increased consumption. As the population ages and fewer babies are born in Japan, some people say that healthcare and welfare should be developed as an industry, otherwise Japan can not maintain the healthcare services required by its aging society, in terms of both quality and quantity. Under such circumstances, the Biomaster Inc. opened Cellport Clinic Yokohama in July, 2006 in Kanagawa. The Medical Law only allows "medical corporations" to operate healthcare institutions, but the Kanagawa local government applied for the Bio-medical Industry Special Zone permit, and for the first time, an ordinary company was allowed to operate a medical institution.
