Autologous fat transplantation in patients with breast cancer: silencing or fueling cancer recurrence?

Lipotransfer can be considered a technical revolution in plastic surgery and widely performed for esthetic surgery. Recently the lipofilling has been indicated in breast reconstruction and deformity correction after breast conservative treatment. However, there is lack of understanding concerning the interactions between the potential tumor beds and the lipoaspirates grafts. Current literature underlines the efficacy of the technique as well as its safety. Nevertheless, many experimental studies provide data on the endocrine, paracrine, and autocrine activities of the transplanted fat tissues. Adipocyte, pre-adipocyte and progenitor cell secretions can stimulate angiogenesis and cell growth. The tumor-stroma interaction can potentially induce cancer reappearance by fueling dormant breast cancer cells in tumor bed. There is lack of translational research that proves this concern in clinical aspect. No study on the effects of lipotransfer on human cancer breast cells in vivo is available. We provide direct and indirect effects of lipotransfer in breast cancer patients, highlighting pro and con related issues. To confirm the safety of lipotransfer in breast cancer patients we need clinical studies with control group based on long term follow up. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.