Jabs of belly fat f ix faces after cancer

PEOPLE who are left disfigured after cancer surgery are having the damage to their faces repaired by injections of stomach fat.

The pioneering treatment is being given to those who have suffered severe damage as a result of radiotherapy and operations to remove tumours from their head or neck.

For decades, surgeons have successfully used a similar type of fat transfer to reconstruct breast tissue after cancer surgery such as mastectomies.

Now the same treatment has been found to be effective at repairing sensitive areas of the face.

Cases of head and neck cancer in the UK are rising rapidly, with diagnoses up by 30 per cent in ten years.

One reason is thought to be the Human Papillomavirus ( HPV), s ome s t r ai ns of which can cause cancer in the mouth and throat.

However, the most com- mon c a use i s s moking, accounting for 65 per cent of all oral cancers.

Typically, head and neck cancers – including tumours in the throat, lip, tongue and nasal cavity – are treated with a combination of surgery and radiotherapy. But both can leave the face hollowed and scarred.

Reconstructive cosmetic surgery requires weeks in hospital with varying results. The new fat transfer procedure takes just one hour, and the transformation can be seen immediately.

‘We are seeing a significant number of younger patients with head and neck cancer and they are acutely aware of how they look following treatment,’ says Luke Cascarini, oral and maxillofacial head and neck consultant at Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Trust in London.

‘ Patients are incredibly grateful that you have successfully removed a cancer, but the downside can be scarring from surgery or damage to the skin.’

Fat is rich in stem cells and can morph into different, healthy cells. In this type of transplant they divide and transform into skin cells, replacing the damaged ones and ‘plumping’ up the skin.

After a local anaesthetic, a small incision is made into the stomach or thigh and around 120ml of f at is sucked out by a syringe.

This is placed into a centrifuge and spun to separate water and blood from the fat and stem cells, leaving a pure solution ready for infusion into the neck or face.

This solution is injected into the affected facial areas with a small needle.

Helen Lamont, a 50-yearold NHS worker from Southend i n Es s e x , h a d the procedure in July 2016 after surgery to remove a tennis ball-sized tumour in her jaw, which left her face hollowed and scarred.

She said: ‘I’m very pleased with what has been achieved. I never thought anything could be done.’