Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr;305(4):921-927.
doi: 10.1007/s00404-021-06241-1. Epub 2021 Sep 16.

Autologous fat grafting for breast reconstruction after breast cancer: a 12-year experience

Sally Kempa  1 , Eva Brix  1 , Norbert Heine  1 , Vanessa Hösl  1 , Catharina Strauss  1 , Andreas Eigenberger  1 , Vanessa Brébant  1 , Stephan Seitz  2 , Lukas Prantl  3
Affiliations

Autologous fat grafting for breast reconstruction after breast cancer: a 12-year experience

Sally Kempa et al. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of our study was to examine the surgical outcome and complications (efficiency) as well as the incidence of locoregional recurrence and distant metastases (oncological safety) in patients who underwent autologous fat grafting (AFG) of the breast following breast cancer surgery.

Methods: In our monocentric cohort study, retrospective and prospective data were collected from all consecutive patients who underwent AFG after breast cancer between 2008 and 2020; a total of 93 patients met the inclusion criteria.

Results: Our long-term results showed no increase in tumor recurrence and distant metastases in the studied collective when compared to the available literature. We observed 1 local recurrence (1.1%), 2 distant metastases (2.2%), and 1 tumor-related death (1.1%). There was a high degree of patient satisfaction; 67.12% of patients reported adequate satisfaction with autologous fat grafting.

Conclusion: Currently, to our knowledge, this is the study with the longest follow-up time (mean 6.7 years after AFG and 11.5 years after tumor resection). The results of our clinical study will contribute to improve evidence in the broad field of AFG, adipose stem cell and tumor research. Consistent with our study, the literature review shows a clear tendency of clinical trial results with a low incidence rate of tumor recurrence and metastasis following the use of AFG. AFG seems to be a safe procedure also after breast cancer treatment.

Keywords: Autologous fat grafting; Breast Cancer; Reconstruction; Safety; Transplantation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Kaplan–Meier curve of recurrence-free interval
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bray F, et al. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2018;68(6):394–424. doi: 10.3322/caac.21492. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Khouri RK, et al. Tissue-engineered breast reconstruction with Brava-assisted fat grafting: a 7-year, 488-patient, multicenter experience. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2015;135(3):643–658. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000001039. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mohd Ali N, et al. Adipose MSCs suppress MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer metastasis and EMT pathways leading to dormancy via exosomal-miRNAs following co-culture interaction. Pharmaceuticals (Basel) 2020;14(1):8. doi: 10.3390/ph14010008. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Botteri E, et al. Analysis of local and regional recurrences in breast cancer after conservative surgery. Ann Oncol. 2010;21(4):723–728. doi: 10.1093/annonc/mdp386. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yadav AS, et al. The biology and therapeutic implications of tumor dormancy and reactivation. Front Oncol. 2018;8:72. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2018.00072. - DOI - PMC - PubMed