Japan, India provide painless treatment method for male urethral stricture

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 (Bernama) -- A novel and relatively painless treatment method for male urethral stricture using patient’s buccal mucosal cells has been reported as successful in four out of six patients.

The study has been published in the International Journal of Urology -- the official journal of Japanese Urological Association -- a result of collaboration between Japanese biomaterial technology and an Indian urologist, Dr Suryaprakash Vaddi.

GN Corporation said in a statement that it coordinated the interaction with Japanese biomaterial scientists and clinicians in India through Nichi-In Centre for Regenerative Medicine (NCRM).

It also has applied a patent for this invention and signed a MoU for collaboration with JBM Inc to explore opportunities to make this an approved clinical solution in the future following the regulatory protocols as per Japanese Ministry of Health.

The statement stated majority of male urethral strictures reported in the developed world are due to iatrogenic causes while in the developing countries, the major causes are inflammation and trauma.

Treatment to the disease involve conventional treatment either endoscopic intervention or open surgery. Meanwhile in surgical treatment which under general anesthesia -- patient’s buccal mucosa is harvested and used as a patch to enlarge the narrowed urethra.

Under the collaboration, a method called -- Buccal epithelium Expanded and Encapsulated in Scaffold – Hybrid Approach for Urethral Stricture (BEES-HAUS) -- a small piece of the buccal tissue is harvested and after culturing the cells in the lab without animal protein, embedded in scaffold and transplanted through endoscopy.

Both harvesting and transplant does not require general anesthesia, making the procedure relatively easier to the clinician and less painful to the patient. It also has a potential to help approximately 30,000 patients every year in Japan.

-- BERNAMA