Peyronie’s disease is characterised by plaque formation on the erectile structures of the penis and leads to penile curvature, shorter penis size and erectile dysfunctions. Peyronie’s disease has different treatment methods. In recent years, the stem cell treatment has been preferred for the treatment of this disease.
In this article, I would like to talk about the stem cell treatment of Peyronie’s disease.
Stem cells are special cells in our bodies with unlimited division and regeneration capacity. Our body has many stem cell sources. The easiest accessible stem cell is between fat tissue. The most important property of stem cells is that they adapt to their environment and transform into other cells. The regeneration potential of stem cells decreases with age.
Today, we can see that stem cell treatments are gathered under the same roof. Therefore, we can list the treatment options for stem cell treatment as follows:
PRP: This is the abbreviation for platelet-rich plasma treatment. Actually, this treatment does not use stem cells, but it is listed among stem cell treatments due to its regeneration potential.
SVF Stem Cell: SVF stem cells, known as stromal vascular fraction, involve collecting fat tissue from the abdomen, processing this fat and obtaining stem cells. It is important to use sterile and reliable devices in this process. The SVF contains primer cells, stem cells and mature cells. The advantage of this method is its ease of use. The most important disadvantage is the fact that cell number, quality and differentiation potential can vary among individuals. Therefore, the doctor should investigate the cells under a microscope in an SVF stem cell treatment. Physicians aim for 1–5 million stem cells with the SVF stem cell procedure.
GMP Stem Cell: GMP is the name for the entire procedure that contains the best production practices. The stem cells for the treatment are selected from the stem cell pool, and a suitable number of cells are injected by the doctor into the penile tissue. The number of targeted cells for erectile dysfunction is 10–15 million. This is an effective treatment option. All cells are produced after the quality control steps. Using the cells of another person does not cause any incompatibility. However, it is possible to multiply the cells collected from the patient’s tissue in the laboratory environment. At this stage, cell preparation will take approximately 15 days.
The most important problems at an early stage of Peyronie’s disease are as follows:
There is no effective medication treatment for the acute phase of Peyronie’s disease. The aim of the treatment at this phase is to decrease pain, preserve penis size and solve the erectile dysfunction problem. Until recent years, there has been no exact solution for these problems. A stem cell treatment offers an effective and permanent solution against these 4 problems.
In Peyronie’s disease, stem cells are applied inside the plaque and penis. This will help repair the penile tissue and protect the penis’s size since plaque formation is prevented. Additionally, repeated stem cell applications will help with penile enlargement. New blood vessel formation with the stem cell treatment will increase the blood flow to the penis, and the penis will get larger.
Peyronie’s disease has negative effects on men’s sexual lives. The inflammation process causes a serious prognosis. If stem cell treatments are applied in the acute phase, GMP stem cell treatment, which is the strongest stem cell treatment, should be selected. This treatment is applied with 10 million stem cells inside the lesion and 10 million stem cells inside the penis. It can be combined with shock wave treatment for maximum benefits.
If GMP stem cell treatment is planned, the necessary permission will be collected from the Ministry of Health before the application. Although GMP stem cell treatment is highly effective, the Ministry of Health requires competent surgeons to perform this treatment.
After receiving the permit from the Ministry of Health, the special cells are prepared in around 3–5 business days and injected inside penis tubes.There is no need for hospitalisation.
The acute phase of Peyronie’s disease takes approximately 6 months to 1 year. The progression and reasons for this disease are unknown. Therefore, current treatments focus on protecting the penis from negative effects for the first year, which is the acute phase of the disease. It is important to be patient with the treatment.
Treatment costs will depend on the severity of the disease and the hospital selected for the treatment. Therefore, you can get a realistic quote an andrological examination.