National Taiwan University Hospital

The new technique shows it is possible to form completely new hair follicles - a major step forward. Previously scientists have successfully used the technique to grow human hairs on the back of mice. Now the first human study is underway in Taiwan with around 400 men and women. Patients who are undergoing cosmetic surgery at the National Taiwan University Hospital are providing samples of dermal papillae cells from their scalps. These will then be cultured in the lab and implanted into bald patients.


The idea is that this will lead to the growth of new follicles for the first time, rather than transplanting existing hair from one site to another.

The technique could be suitable for people with a limited number of follicles, including those with female-pattern hair loss, scarring alopecia and hair loss due to burns.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...grow-back.html



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...#ixzz2sOM1HFBT
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Sounds good, looks like we at least have a serious clinical trial starting. Hopefully it works out.

Does Daily Mail ever provide a source or the scientific proposal of this Taiwanese hopsital?

Writing simply "Taiwan researchers" sounds is a little too vague for me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nickk

The new technique shows it is possible to form completely new hair follicles - a major step forward. Previously scientists have successfully used the technique to grow human hairs on the back of mice. Now the first human study is underway in Taiwan with around 400 men and women. Patients who are undergoing cosmetic surgery at the National Taiwan University Hospital are providing samples of dermal papillae cells from their scalps. These will then be cultured in the lab and implanted into bald patients.


The idea is that this will lead to the growth of new follicles for the first time, rather than transplanting existing hair from one site to another.

The technique could be suitable for people with a limited number of follicles, including those with female-pattern hair loss, scarring alopecia and hair loss due to burns.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...grow-back.html



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...#ixzz2sOM1HFBT
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

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I'll be the first one booking a flight to Taiwan should this procedure WORK.

Desmond, any idea of how their method works and what its based on or should we just shelve this idea like Aderans?

woow.. this looks too good.. hope be something REALLY real .. just once!

A couple interesting points,

This study is currently recruiting participants.
Estimated Study Completion Date: December 2016

First received: July 23, 2007
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on February 03, 2014

The website says that this was first filed in 2007, and only now it is being processed 7 years later. Does anyone know what this mean? Does it mean the website updated it late or does the FDA takes that long just to approve a clinical trial request?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nickk

The new technique shows it is possible to form completely new hair follicles - a major step forward. Previously scientists have successfully used the technique to grow human hairs on the back of mice. Now the first human study is underway in Taiwan with around 400 men and women. Patients who are undergoing cosmetic surgery at the National Taiwan University Hospital are providing samples of dermal papillae cells from their scalps. These will then be cultured in the lab and implanted into bald patients.


The idea is that this will lead to the growth of new follicles for the first time, rather than transplanting existing hair from one site to another.

The technique could be suitable for people with a limited number of follicles, including those with female-pattern hair loss, scarring alopecia and hair loss due to burns.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...grow-back.html



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...#ixzz2sOM1HFBT
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

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Shame that its an article by the Daily Mail...absolute rag of a newspaper

Great that there seems to be progress in this area though

Interesting. From what I can tell the article refers to this:
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/s...+taiwan&rank=1

It's a bit weird though because it says the trial application was received in 2007 but only processed 2 days ago. Not sure what to make of it but if it's being published in the national press you would imagine there has been some research on the journalists part (i.e. contact with the hospital) and so there might be something to it.

From the very limited info I can glean from the article and link it looks to me like they plan to use Jahoda's 3D spheroid culture method (or something similar) and see if they can use those cells to grow follicles by transplanting them into participants scalps. I certainly think it's worth a shot as in Jahoda's paper the cells were injected into foreskin, which obviously doesn't normally grow hair. Perhaps injecting the cultured cells into skin on the scalp that does grow hair - and therefore has all the correct growth factor signalling etc - will be enough to trigger the formation of proper follicles. Looking at the numbers in Jahoda's paper, a 22% restoration of gene expression in spheroid cultures over 2D cultures was sufficient to permit the formation of hair follicles - albeit rubbish ones - and suggests transplantation into the correct environment might be enough to restore gene expression to a point were the cells would grow healthy hair follicles.

I can't help but think they wouldn't start a trial with 400 people unless they had done some experiments themselves and were confident this would work. Here's hoping...

Here we go again.

Take it the treatment is 5 years away right?

Thought so.

Anyway, this study has been going on for ages, its basically what Aderans were doing, so if they failed I dont see why these clowns who are taking a decade per phase will succeed. The 'better treatment' will come from a European/American company anyway - we're far more advanced with more money available to finance said ventures, we just have loads of regulators that slow us down.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UK_

Here we go again.

Take it the treatment is 5 years away right?

Thought so.

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Why put something down when you haven't event went into it. This is the first time I have seen someone actually trying to inject hair follicles made in vitro into someone's scalp and we actually know how many people they are testing it on and when it is expected to finish, unlike Follica where we don't know where they are at.

I think it is very important to monitor your health and in particular for your hair, baldness is a very serious problem, you can look at the reviews on articles on this topic, I think this problem is very relevant and important in our time.