Dr. Joel Aronowitz — Suzanne Sommers Tries New Stem Cell Treatment
Welcome back to ARONOWITZLAND with Dr. Joel Aronowitz, Plastic & Reconstructive surgeon in Los Angeles. Dr. Aronowitz has been one of the most reputable plastic and reconstructive surgeons of Beverly Hills, California for the past 30 years. He is also the medical director of the Tower Wound Care Centers in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Culver City, Encino, Pasadena and Lynwood.
TV host: “Suzanne Summers is perhaps best known for her acting career and more recently for her controversial position on hormone therapy. But now Summers is making medical headlines again becoming one of the first women in this country to undergo experimental breast reconstruction surgery using stem cells. Could it be an option for women after a lumpectomy? Dr. Sapna Parikh here now to explain.”
Dr. Sapna Parikh: “Well this procedure involves using your own fat cells to reconstruct your breast. It could be an option if we see that it’s safe in the long term but we do not know that yet. Come and knock on our door.”
TV host: “Suzanne Summers shot to stardom as a TV sitcom actress. In 2001 she announced she had breast cancer and now a decade later she’s among the first in the US to try an experimental breast reconstruction surgery using stem cells. Sharing her story with ABC’s Juju Chang.”
Suzanne Sommers: “This is the first clinical trial so I was the first woman to legally regrow her breast using stem cells.”
Juju Chang: “The procedure is called cell assisted lipotransfer. Fat is sucked out of the stomach, half is harvested for stem cells which are then added back to the remaining half and re-injected into the breast. Suzanne says 12 years ago a lumpectomy and radiation left her breast lopsided.”
Suzanne Sommers: “This clinical trial that I started after completion will make this subject to being FDA approved and paid for by insurance.”
Juju Chang: “But critics say that depends on the results. Researchers from the University of Tokyo have tested cell assisted lipotransfer in hundreds of women in Japan for cosmetic breast enlargement. But the long term outcome and side effects of the procedure are still unknown. But Suzanne Summers is not one to hide from controversy.”
Suzanne Sommers: “On top of daily human growth hormone injections, she also takes up to 90 supplements a day. I take estrogen progesterone. I just recently added in testosterone.”
Juju Chang: “Only time will tell if her latest experiment with breast surgery will prove to be successful or not. So there were some big unanswered questions. Will the new cells survive? Is there enough blood supply? Will the injected stem cells reprogram themselves and become cancer cells? And how will the breast look down the road in terms of the shape? So there are a lot of unknowns.”
Originally published at https://drjoelaronowitzmd.blogspot.com on April 4, 2024.
