Fat-rich Stem Cells Offer Hope For Breast Cancer Patients

fat cells Med Headlines - There’s good news for the millions of women who have been left with breast defects after having cancerous lumps removed. A Japanese study released this week shows that stem cells from liposuctioned fat can be used to treat breast defects in women who have had cancerous lumps removed. The study was presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The company that developed the treatment, Cytori Therapeutics, plans larger studies in Europe and Japan next year.

The approach is still experimental but may hold promise for women with cratered areas in the breast region created by cancer surgery. Although it has only been tested on two dozen women in a study in Japan, U.S. doctors believe it shows great promise.

“This is a pretty exciting topic right now in plastic surgery,” said Dr. Karol Gutowski of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “There are people all over the world working on this.”

More than 100,000 women have lumps removed each year in the United States. These operations, lumpectomies, are often done instead of mastectomies, which take the whole breast. Unfortunately, they often leave deformities because as much as a third of a woman’s breast may be removed. The defect initially may not be noticeable but it often gets worse, especially if the woman also has radiation treatment, according to Dr. Sameer Patel, a reconstructive surgeon at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

The new stem cell treatment is expected to cost $3,000 to $5,000, said Cytori’s president, Dr. Mark Hedrick. The company sees potential for cosmetic breast augmentation of healthy breasts but for now “our plan is to focus on an unmet medical need” in cancer patients, he said.

Filed under: Breast Cancer, Women's Health