Australian scientists announce breast reconstruction 'breakthrough'
Updated
With invasive or aggressive cancers, doctors sometimes have no choice but to remove a woman's breast altogether, in an operation called a mastectomy. Afterwards women can go for reconstructive surgery - with the two main options these days being an artificial implant, or using skin and muscle from elsewhere on the body. Now, though, a group of Australian scientists have invented a third method - it involves using a breast-shaped piece of biodegradeable plastic, which can be put inside the body with some of the woman's own fat cells in it. The fat cells multiply, the plastic breaks down - and within a few months, the result is a relatively natural-looking breast. Animal trials at the Bernard O'Brien Institute of Microsurgery in Melbourne have all gone well, and human trials start next year.
Presenter: Corinne Podger
Speaker: Dr Keren Abberton, Bernard O'Brien Institute of Microsurgery, Melbourne, Australia
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