Fat grafting for breast cancer patients: From basic science to clinical studies

Eur J Surg Oncol. 2016 Aug;42(8):1088-102. doi: 10.1016/j.ejso.2016.04.062. Epub 2016 May 27.

Abstract

Fat grafting in the surgical treatment of breast cancer has become popular in a short period of time because of the rising expectations of good esthetic results by the patients as well as the simplicity of the technique; however, the oncological safety for breast cancer patients remains a matter of debate. The procedure raises many questions considering that recent in-vitro studies have shown that fat grafting could promote tumor recurrence through diverse mechanisms, or even facilitate distant metastasis. We present a review of the currently available experimental and clinical data in order to describe and discuss patient selection criteria following breast cancer surgery.

Keywords: ASCs (adipose stem cells); Breast cancer; Fat grafting; Lipoffiling; Oncological outcome; Safety.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adipose Tissue / transplantation*
  • Animals
  • Breast Neoplasms / surgery*
  • Carcinoma / surgery*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Female
  • Humans
  • In Vitro Techniques
  • Mammaplasty / methods*
  • Mastectomy, Segmental / methods*
  • Mice
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / epidemiology*
  • Patient Selection
  • Transplantation, Autologous
  • Tumor Microenvironment