- Carilion Clinic's chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is studying ways to reduce complications.
- Collaboration with experts at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute makes this study possible.
- Taking research from the lab to the bedside is a cornerstone of Carilion's R&D efforts.
“One in eight women in the U.S. will get breast cancer,” said Robert Gourdie Ph.D., director of the Center for Vascular and Heart Research at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC (FBRI). “That means mothers, sisters, friends, co-workers. Everyone will know someone who’s suffered from this awful disease. There is a real need to address the issues associated with breast cancer."
Dr. Gourdie and Kurtis Moyer, M.D., Carilion Clinic's chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, are collaborating on a project to find ways to reduce complications for patients who have breast reconstructive surgery.
“One of the biggest issues that women who have implants for breast reconstruction face is capsular contracture,” explained Dr. Moyer. “There’s a scar tissue envelope that forms around the implants.”
So, you beat cancer, and what you expect to be the last step in a long journey may lead to more surgeries?
“Right now, unfortunately there is no way for us to stop this process,” said Dr. Moyer.
We are poring through thousands of genes looking at how they change,” added Dr. Gourdie.
Identifying those changes is the first step toward identifying protocols that can reduce or even prevent scar tissue formation.
“That means taking what we learn in the lab and applying it to clinical problems,” said Dr. Moyer. “That’s an incredibly powerful thing that we can offer to patients.”
“Their research is right at the cutting edge of delivering improved clinical service, but basing it on fundamental hard-nosed science,” said Michael Friedlander, Ph.D., FBRI's founding executive director. “It is a match of the best of science and the best of medicine.”
