This article reports that in 2006, over 300,000 breast augmentations and reconstructions were performed in the United States, making them the most common type of cosmetic surgery and almost tripling the number of operations in 1997.

The problem with this is that there are often several unavoidable medical complications that burden women who undergo this procedure. To the rescue comes Cytori Therapeutics, a California Biotech company. They are using stem cell technology to develop a more natural breast growth procedure.

Breast pain is experienced by 6% of silicone implant patients and 16% of saline implant patients. A further 21% of women will experience a leakage of silicone from the implant which, aside from complicating the removal, can cause health problems and infections. 1-2% of implants are also prone to tissue necrosis which, even in the best case scenario, results in heavy scarring from surgery.”

Research has shifted to using the patient’s own organic materials, fat, in lieu of the unnatural saline or silicone. The technique uses fat from the stomach or thigh which is then enriched with stem cells before being injected. While fat carries less risk, it also brings with it unique problems. Due to lack of blood supply withering is experienced over time.

“Cytori’s “Celution” uses a combination of fat and stem cells to incorporate the implant into the patient’s body, ensuring it has a constant supply of blood while avoiding issues associated with gel implants. The process involves fat being taken using a minor liposuction procedure under local anesthetic from a patient’s buttocks or belly. The useful stem cells are separated out and an hour later, a dose of stem and regenerative cells is packaged into a cartridge ready for re-injection, without any culture or manipulation. The breasts then enlarge over about six months.”

Cytori Therapeutics claims that by using the method, breasts can increase in size by about two cup sizes. This size increase is less than that of current implant methods, but is believed to look more natural. It is also equivalently priced, and involves about the same amount of time on the operating table, (though it takes six months for the breasts to reach their maximum size). Thankfully Cytori Therapeutics’ initial focus will be on reconstructive surgery in breast cancer patients.

In Japan, Kotaro Yoshimura, a surgeon at the Tokyo University medical school, claims that more than 40 patients had been treated with his own variation of this procedure. During the operation, surgeons suck fat cells from the stomach or thigh, and this fat-solution 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.

Skeptics claim that it would be wrong to suggest that a breast implant equivalent could grow from stem cells alone, and fat transfer, which is not a new procedure, can still lead to complications and give a lumpy look to the breast tissue.