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Cow hide used in NHS skin grafts for severe facial wounds caused by aggressive skin cancer By MEIKE LEONARD Published: 22:45, 12 April 2025 | Updated: 22:48, 12 April 2025 e-mail View comments NHS surgeons are using cow hide to heal severe facial wounds caused by aggressive skin cancer . Surgically removing tumours can leave patients with large wounds, so skin is usually taken from elsewhere on the body and stitched over the opening. However, as most older patients are ineligible for it because of the risk of infection associated with skin removal.
Now, NHS patients could soon access a pioneering new procedure which involves grafting skin taken from a cow onto older patients. Developed by consultant plastic surgeon Elamurugan Arumugam, based at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, the surgery so far has a 98 per cent success rate . And, according to research presented last year at a British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons meeting, it can heal wounds from tennis ball-sized tumours.
Around 20,000 people get melanoma – the most aggressive skin cancer – every year. Surgically removing tumours can leave patients with large wounds, so skin is usually taken from elsewhere on the body and stitched over the opening. Pictured: Stock photo Now, NHS patients could soon access a pioneering new procedure which involves grafting skin taken from a cow onto older patients.
Pictured: Stock image The life-threatening condition is usually triggered by ultraviolet radiation, either from the sun or sunbeds. Surgery is the main treatment, as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The new technique involves building a thin patch of replacement skin with collagen – the protein building blocks for skin – extracted from cows.
The patch is stitched or stapled over the wound, eventually fusing with surrounding skin and blood vessels. It has been tested on nearly 100 NHS patients, with experts believing it will become widely used on the Health Service in the coming years. Share or comment on this article: Cow hide used in NHS skin grafts for severe facial wounds caused by aggressive skin cancer e-mail Add comment Comments 0 Share what you think No comments have so far been submitted.
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