Researchers at University of Basel have now created noses from cells grown in a lab. The latest organ regeneration method offers hope for patients who have lost parts of their nose due to cancer or injuries.
In the study, researchers implanted lab-made noses in five patients aged between 27 and 86 years. All the patients had suffered from nose damage due to cancer. The new nose was functional after a year. Patients reported liking the external appearance of their new noses. Also, there were no side-effects of the treatment.
Non-melanoma cancers often affect the nose. Currently, surgeons remove parts of the nose cartilage along with the tumor and reconstruct the nose using cartilage from ear or rib, The Telegraph reported.
In the present research, scientists obtained cartilage cells called chondrocytes from nose septum and grew them in the lab. The cells were cultured using growth factors. The cells were then placed into collagen membranes that acted as a framework for the nose tissue. The tissue was shaped into a customized nose for the patients, according to The Telegraph.
"With the cultured cartilage clinical results were achieved, which are comparable to the current standard methods," said Prof. Ivan Martin, professor of tissue engineering at the Department of Biomedicine at the University and University Hospital of Basel.
"The new technique could help to make the body more readily accepted the tissue and that the stability and functionality of the nostril is improved. The method also opens the way for the use of an artificial cartilage for more demanding reconstruction in facial surgery, such as the full nose, eyelid or ear," Martin said in a news release.
The study is published in the journal The Lancet.
Another study conducted by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine described the regeneration of vagina using cells from the patient's reproductive organs.