At the age of 17, Neslihan Karakışlar, who was diagnosed with a jawbone tumour and underwent multiple surgeries but could not achieve any success, found hope with the 7-year effort of Turkish doctors.
Stem cells derived from fat were revitalised by adding them to a cadaver bone, then a jawbone was produced with a one-to-one 3D simulation and transplanted to Karakışlar. ‘I believed that I would recover and I no longer had any worries,’ said the now healthy young woman. This groundbreaking study has opened a door of hope for millions of patients suffering from bone loss due to various reasons.
Neslihan Karakışlar’s life turned into a nightmare after she was diagnosed with a tumour in her jaw after a mumps infection in Bursa in 2005. At the age of 17, she underwent multiple surgeries for a jawbone tumour and lost 17 cm of her lower jawbone. An attempt was made to take a bone graft from the pelvic area, but it became infected. Just as she was losing hope, the ‘biochemistry’ project brought a smile to her face.
‘I have no more problems’
The young woman, who regained her life thanks to the revolutionary work of Turkish doctors, explained her journey at a press conference. The woman, who is now healthy and hopeful for the future as she prepares for marriage, said, “I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart. I encountered this disease at the age of 14. I was treated in Bursa, but no one knew the name of my disease. Prof. Mehmet explained my situation and told us what to do. I had no worries left. We started the operations, of course there were complications, mostly caused by me, but thanks to the doctors I overcame them and I am here today. First they took a piece from my pelvis, but that did not work either. I got an infection and had to wait a long time. It seemed like it would never end, but it did – it was a difficult process. By then we had got used to it. When they first told me that they were going to make a new jawbone, they said I would have to wait a while and I agreed. Now there is a noticeable change. I work in tourism, I’m back at work and I’m also married.”
An Inspiration for the Future
The surgical team who performed the operation explained how they achieved tissue compatibility for the development of a 17 cm half jaw bone, where only 3 cm bone transplants were previously possible. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Veli Karaaltın emphasised that the procedure was tested on animals in a pilot study and that there is no precedent for this in the world. Emphasising that tissue engineering will offer alternatives for many treatments in the future, he said, “Imagine that deceased people donate not only their organs but also their tissues. Like a tissue bank, we can revitalise the tissue by loading the patient’s own stem cells onto a scaffold when needed. This could apply to the liver, heart or even eyes. The foundations for the future need to be laid and Neslihan marks the beginning of this inspiration.”
What has been done?
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Veli Karaaltın gave the following information about the operation “If we go back to the beginning, this is the first example in the world in terms of jawbone surgery. We worked on it for 7 years and achieved success after 5 years. Neslihan Karakışlar underwent a total of 12 operations. There was a diseased bone here. We had to remove almost half of the jawbone to treat it. At that time, we used pelvic bone, but it failed. Then, inspired by Neslihan, we came up with the idea of avoiding taking bone from another part of her body. Instead, we used cadaver bone, revitalised it with stem cells and thankfully we succeeded. I think the most important point is that we completed this procedure without taking any other part of Neslihan’s body.”
Source: https://www.iha.com.tr/haber-kok-hucreden-kemik-uretildi-cene-kemigine-nakledildi-629057
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