More Info On Follicular Hair Regeneration with TrichoCyte

[DarklyCharming]

Hey guys,

I remember Brasiliero posting his response from the company Intercytex Ltd. that is already doing human trials on multiplication of donor hair. Here is supplemental information that they give to the male volunteers who are involved in the trial.

Type of Study: TrichoCyte Hair(Androgenetic Alopecia) Treatment in an uncontrolled first in Human study (THATCH-I) "

Researcher: Dr Bessam Farjo


"TrichoCyte is made from a small sample of scalp tissue from a hairy part of your head. The biopsy is taken under local anaesthetic and can measure approximately 0.5cm2 to 2cm2 in area depending on your hair density. The skin is processed in the laboratories at Intercytex Ltd to form a suspension of DP cells. The manufacturing process takes approximately 4 weeks. The DP cells will then be injected back into a small balding area on your head (under local anaesthetic). Strict procedures are in place to ensure that the TrichoCyte made from your skin samples will only be used to treat you. 50 - 100 injections will be applied, each containing 1 micro litre (very small volume) of cells.

You will be one of the first volunteers to receive TrichCyte although it has been extensively tested in the laboratory. You will be closly monitored throughout your treatment and asked for your opinion.

With your permission any excess hair follicules will be retained for further development of the production.

"Who has reviewed the study?

The study has been reviewed by an Independant Consultant with expertise in the safety of products such as TrichoCyte, and the Central Manchester Research Ethics Committee, and it has been agreed that it may go ahead.


The study will run for a maximum of 40 weeks consisting of 4 weeks before treatment and 36 weeks after 1st treatment with TrichoCyte. We will monitor your health during this period of time to assess how you are feeling and whether new hair grows.

 

[chewbaca]

what's this about?

 

[DarklyCharming]

what's this about?

Quick Summary:

Multiplication of hair or Follicular Hair Regeneration is a process a lot of scientists are working on where they take a small sample from the back of your head, no larger than a nickel, and multiply that hair in a laboratory. This means that they can take that sample from you from the back of your head, where your hair will never fall out, and multiply to cover however much of your head you need covered.

Hence, it's a hair transplant technique, but it doesn't involve taking a strip and means that once they get this down, you will never have to worry about going completely bald or looking remotely balding. They will be able to create however much hair you need to cover your head and place it there. This hair will be multiplied from an area that is DHT resistant and so you will never go bald after this procedure.

And you live happily ever after banging super models named Heidi.

 

[chewbaca]

what's this about?

Quick Summary:

Multiplication of hair or Follicular Hair Regeneration is a process a lot of scientists are working on where they take a small sample from the back of your head, no larger than a nickel, and multiply that hair in a laboratory. This means that they can take that sample from you from the back of your head, where your hair will never fall out, and multiply to cover however much of your head you need covered.

Hence, it's a hair transplant technique, but it doesn't involve taking a strip and means that once they get this down, you will never have to worry about going completely bald or looking remotely balding. They will be able to create however much hair you need to cover your head and place it there. This hair will be multiplied from an area that is DHT resistant and so you will never go bald after this procedure.

And you live happily ever after banging super models named Heidi.

Wait.....I cant seem to figure out...are they stimulating hair to grow on your head after injecting some cells or what?

is this thing proven to work anyway?

 

[DarklyCharming]

Wait.....I cant seem to figure out...are they stimulating hair to grow on your head after injecting some cells or what?

Your hair grows from a cell on your head that says "grow hair!". They take these cells that are DHT resistant from the back of your head and recreate them in the lab. Basically making thousands of them. They then relocate these cells to your balding areas. Hence, these cells will say, "grow hair!" in their new home in your balding area.

When they do a strip transplant or an FUE, both traditional transplant techniques, they are doing the same thing with one exception. They are having to use only what they take from your head. Hence you have a limited supply of cells to move. By doing this, they can create innumerable cells to move.

 

[chewbaca]

Wait.....I cant seem to figure out...are they stimulating hair to grow on your head after injecting some cells or what?

Your hair grows from a cell on your head that says "grow hair!". They take these cells that are DHT resistant from the back of your head and recreate them in the lab. Basically making thousands of them. They then relocate these cells to your balding areas. Hence, these cells will say, "grow hair!" in their new home in your balding area.

When they do a strip transplant or an FUE, both traditional transplant techniques, they are doing the same thing with one exception. They are having to use only what they take from your head. Hence you have a limited supply of cells to move. By doing this, they can create innumerable cells to move.

That;s what i asked earlier....so it means they are transplanting cells and not whole hair follicles like traditional hair transplant right..so is this thing already proven to work and are doing human trials?

 

[DarklyCharming]

That;s what i asked earlier....so it means they are transplanting cells and not whole hair follicles like traditional hair transplant right..

Cell = follicle. They are the same. A hair follicle's full name is "hair follicle cell". It's exactly the same procedure, just endless hair supply.

 

[chewbaca]

That;s what i asked earlier....so it means they are transplanting cells and not whole hair follicles like traditional hair transplant right..

Cell = follicle. They are the same. A hair follicle's full name is "hair follicle cell". It's exactly the same procedure, just endless hair supply.

Pretty confused here....the article says tese cells will be injected back into your scalp..cells are things u cant see with the naked eye right?

 

[DarklyCharming]

I don't know how to make it more simple. Here's Biology 101.

Your body is made up of cells. Cells have specific jobs. Some cells say "make a heart", "make an arm", "make an eyeball', or "make hair". They are programmed to do this. It is in your DNA, which is your genetic code. They only have this job. A heart cell will make a heart. An eyeball cell will make an eyeball. Thus, a hair cell will only make hair.

What this process does, is take cells that only say "make hair" and puts them in places where the cells have stopped making hair. Then, hair begins to grow there.

 

[chewbaca]

Clinical Programmes / TrichoCyte

Hair loss affects approximately 40% of men and 20% of women aged 50 and over. In the USA there are an estimated 40 million men and 20 million women suffering from some degree of baldness and some $1.5 billion is spent annually on hair loss therapies.

TrichoCyte represents a next generation hair transplant technology. Existing treatments, involving the transplant of whole hairs, represent the only means of regenerating bald areas, but usually require multiple surgical procedures, long recovery intervals and lengthy treatment regimes. Furthermore many individuals have insufficient donor hair follicles to benefit from this technique.

TrichoCyte involves the culture and expansion of follicular cells which are injected into the scalp underneath the epidermis of the skin to induce formation of new hair follicles in-situ. The procedure is considerably less problematic than conventional hair transplants, both in terms of the amount of tissue taken from the patient, and also in the amount of trauma - injecting cultured cells will cause far less tissue damage than implanting a section of scalp and is a considerably simpler process.

Since the follicular cells can be derived from only a very small area of hair-bearing scalp, a much higher population of patients will be able to benefit from TrichoCyte than conventional transplantation.

Phase I clinical trials have commenced and are being conducted on a small cohort of volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering please see attached advertisement: VolAdvert-05July04.pdf (85kb). We are currently looking for the next tranche of volunteers and will be recruiting from February 2005.

Phase II multi-centre clinical trials on patients with male pattern baldness are planned for Q4 2005/Q1 2006 and will be performed in both the UK and US.

 

[chewbaca]

I don't know how to make it more simple. Here's Biology 101.

Your body is made up of cells. Cells have specific jobs. Some cells say "make a heart", "make an arm", "make an eyeball', or "make hair". They are programmed to do this. It is in your DNA, which is your genetic code. They only have this job. A heart cell will make a heart. An eyeball cell will make an eyeball. Thus, a hair cell will only make hair.

What this process does, is take cells that only say "make hair" and puts them in places where the cells have stopped making hair. Then, hair begins to grow there.

OK GET IT....cos i was confused with the traditional hair transplant techniques....so wahts the diff between traditional hair transplant, FUE and this new one....care to explain?

 

[Buffboy]

That;s what i asked earlier....so it means they are transplanting cells and not whole hair follicles like traditional hair transplant right..

Cell = follicle. They are the same. A hair follicle's full name is "hair follicle cell". It's exactly the same procedure, just endless hair supply.

I don't think its exactly the same procedure. I think that they use injections here rather than using a scalpel.

BTW, yes it has been proven to work. One major obstacle is to manage the direction of the hairs. The problem is that this is cells as opposed to hairs at the end of a follicle. So its difficult to see from a cell what way the hair will grow. But they will solve this, no worries.

 

[chewbaca]

Exatcly....That was what i was asking.....basically its like giving u an injection on your damned head and then the hair grows there....the advantage with this is that its just like a regular injection which will heal soon....

 

[DarklyCharming]

OK GET IT....cos i was confused with the traditional hair transplant techniques....so wahts the diff between traditional hair transplant, FUE and this new one....care to explain?

Traditional Strip Procedure: They slice a strip of hair off the back of your head in the DHT resistant area. They then cut that strip up into tiny pieces and place them in needle sized holes in your scalp. This grows in and fills in as hair. You will be left with a scar on the back of your head from where they made the cut.

FUE: They take individual cuts from the back of your head, very small cuts. This way, they only take 2-3 hairs at a time and all over. They then do the same thing to your head as with the strip. They make needle sized holes and put the follicles in. This will not leave a scar on your head.

Both of these procedures involve a lot of healing afterwards and take a long time to grow new hair, results not being fully seen for a full year.

New Procedure: They will take a small section from the back of your head. This may or may not leave a TINY scar. They then take these cells and make thousands. You come in to their clinic, they inject the cells into your head. These cells will grow hair. They expect the cells to grow hair within 4-6 weeks, rather than the 6-12 months the traditional hair transplant procedures take.

 

[chewbaca]

Damn i can see thefuture implications of this sh*t!

One day, everyone is gonna do this right at home!...Buy some lab equiment, culture cells and inject them back into yr head in front of the mirror !....

 

[DarklyCharming]

Damn i can see thefuture implications of this sh*t!

One day, everyone is gonna do this right at home!...Buy some lab equiment, culture cells and inject them back into yr head in front of the mirror !....

Haha, I don't know about at home but it's definitely encouraging. My advice to anyone who is absolutely devestated by hairloss right now is this.

1. Buzz your head. You will get used to the look on yourself and it will eliminate your worry about shedding and the progress of the baldness.

2. Decide if you want to go on Propecia. It may keep your hair looking cosmetically acceptable until something like this is available, which is possibly in the next 4-10 years.

3. Pour yourself into work and enriching your life. Hit the gym. Build 16 inch arms. Get promoted at work. Buy a BMW. Build an IRA and a savings account. Then, in those 4-10 years, when this becomes available to the public, you will have a kickass life; a rocking car, a great body, and a full head of hair.

Think of it as a period of training. Soldiers go away to learn to fight. Native Americans go into the wild to find their spirit. You will be building your life to its pinnacle so that when you can have a full head of hair again, you will be the best possible you from all angles.

 

[21gone]

This all seems very promising I just hope it does not turn out to be another one of those 5 year things, where we just keep saying it will be here in 5 years. On a side not I forget what state it is in, perhaps MD or VA but one of these states is using their tobacco settlement money and putting it towards stem cell research. The only bad thing is that when this comes out it will be quite pricey.

 

[Brasileirao]

Hey DarklyCharming,

Thanks for the additional information! This past week there seems to be a lot more positive news on the whole hairloss issue. Keeping my fingers crossed for all of us!

Lets hope some day this will all be old news, hairloss that is. :^)

 

[Vinton Harper]

Damn! How do you get to be a volunteer for this so you can have this done now and avoid the years of waiting for it to be ready for the general public?

 

[Fallout Boy]

Well they havent solved all the problems with HM (hair multiplication) yet and are still trying to get it to work ,from what i read. I think a very low percentage of the cells injected actually survive or grow hair and they still havent even fixed the direction of hair growth problem yet...

there was an article saying that the whole procedure will cost only $10,000 US for a full head of hair but i see itbeing alot more expensive as people will be willing to pay a lot more if it means getting all of their hair back. I hope it will be out within the next 10 years but i dont know.