Guest Post: Growing Back Your Breasts after Having Mastectomy?

A group of doctors in the Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery in Melbourne have partially succeeded in growing back the breasts in cancer patients who have undergone mastectomies.

A pilot study was conducted where fat cells from the patient’s body was transferred into the chests of study participants which comprised of five women. These women all underwent mastectomies and were unsuitable candidates for surgery that involves the transfer of tissue from the stomach to the breasts.

The surgeons first implanted the women with an acrylic breast chamber insider their chest where they redirected blood vessels and fat cells in a location underneath the armpit. The reason why they place the chamber is to contain the fat cells into a space. This technique is referred to as the Neopec.

For over 18 months the five women have been observed to see how the injected fat cells are growing within the breast chamber. 

According to Professor Wayne Morrison, who is the head of the research team, there was no tissue regeneration in three of the patients.  One even had to withdraw out of the study because the acrylic breast chamber had been painfully pressing on her ribs. However, fat tissue growth was observed in the fifth study participant.

In the fifth patient, the research team injected 30 cubic centimeters of fat cells. It later grew to 180 cc in over a year filling the acrylic chamber before it was removed. This was already an exciting feat for the team as it proves that the concept that, placing tissue in a space could encourage it to expand filling the area can actually be effective in humans.

What happened is simply spontaneous growth without even the need for the introduction of stem cells or fat injections. What is simply done is fat transfer.

Although 180 cc is a rather small size to consider but according to Professor Morrison, “she (the patient) is quite small in the first place and a 180 cc breast is a small breast, but she is happy with the outcome and does not want any added implant to augment her further.”

He also added that, “one of the things, cosmetically, that’s probably marred the appearance slightly is that … the chamber had become scarred and embedded into the chest, so it flattened down.”

A team of doctors are still monitoring the outcome in the fifth patient to check if she was able to retain the fat tissues that were grown.

But one of the concerns that sprung up was it was not only fat tissue that was growing within the prepared space, but fibroblastic tissues as well, which is basically scar tissue. To this Morrison said, “We would wonder in the long term whether it would be adequate for permanent replacement, though we did review her three months later and the volume was stable, so it is very encouraging.”

Morrison also claims that despite the single success, more research still needs to be done. For instance, what is driving the transferred tissue to increase in size? With this development, it now allows women who have lost their breasts to cancer another option to regain a normal body image aside from breast augmentation surgery.

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