A breast enlargement operation which can be done in a lunchtime could increase the risk of cancer, a leading plastic surgeon has warned.
The concern surrounds ‘boob job jabs’ in which fat and stem cells from the waist, hips, thighs or buttocks are used to plump up the bust without surgery.
The £6,000 operation is becoming more popular as, unlike conventional procedures, it also slims the lower half by transferring fat.
But a conference heard there may be a risk in moving stem cells, or ‘master cells’, and processing them to be more concentrated.
Fazel Fatah, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said: ‘I would like them to be banned.
‘They must not be provided for breast augmentation for cosmetic reasons.’
‘The warning must be very clear and given to the public: they should not subject themselves to this treatment until they hear from reliable sources such as the Royal Colleges or surgical associations, that it is safe.’
Marc Pacifico, a consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon, warned that experiments show taking the cells out of their ‘niche’ may lead to them misbehaving and interfering with the delicate chemistry of the tissue.
Mr Pacifico, of the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, West Sussex, said: ‘Fat transfer techniques are becoming increasingly popular and the aesthetic results are great but we don’t know about the long-term effects.
‘We can’t say this is definitely going to cause breast cancer but anyone thinking about having this type of treatment should be made aware that the long-term risk of breast cancer is unknown.’
He told the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons in Birmingham that live cells may be more dangerous than silicone implants.
There are no official figures on the number of these ops carried out but Mr Pacifico told the Daily Mail: ‘It is a popular procedure that seems too good to be true. And perhaps it is.’
Stem cells are used to help keep the fat in place and fed with blood, leading to a more natural-looking result.
Clinics offering the treatment insist every precaution is taken.-By Fiona Macrae,1st October 2011