ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Autologous fat grating has become increasingly popular as a breast reconstructive procedure. Nevertheless, preclinical studies show that fat transfer to a previous breast cancer site could activate latent cancer cells, creating a favourable environment for disease recurrence. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to investigate whether fat grafting increases the risk of locoregional recurrence in patients formerly treated for breast cancer. METHODS: Based on PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review searching for randomised clinical trials and matched cohorts on the topic was performed in the electronic databases Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane. The date of the last search was July 20, 2021. The meta-analysis assessed the comparison of locoregional recurrence between groups. RESULTS: From a total of 558 publications, data from nine matched cohorts (1.6%) reporting on 4247 subjects (1590 and 2657 subjects, respectively, in lipofilling and control groups) were suitable for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Neither of the outcomes had a statistically significant difference for disease recurrence. For the primary outcome, comparing locoregional recurrence rates between groups, the incidence rate ratio was 0.92 (95% CI: 0.68-1.26; P = 0.620). CONCLUSION: The present meta-analysis, which comprises the outcomes of the individual studies with the best current evidence on the topic so far, strengthens the evidence favouring the oncologic safety of lipofilling for breast reconstruction.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms , Mammaplasty , Adipose Tissue/transplantation , Breast Neoplasms/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Mammaplasty/methods , Mastectomy/methods , Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/surgery , Transplantation, Autologous/adverse effectsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Autologous fat grafting has been an increasingly popular procedure for remodeling the breast of patients undergoing breast cancer surgery. This study's objective was to investigate whether autologous fat grafting is associated with a higher risk of disease recurrence in the context of late breast reconstruction for patients diagnosed with breast cancer who have undergone either breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy. METHODS: A retrospective matched cohort study was performed in a single tertiary health care center. Data were collected from 42 patients formerly treated for breast cancer who underwent the first session of autologous fat grafting between August of 2007 and June of 2016. A total of 126 patients with similar features, who did not undergo autologous fat grafting, were individually matched at a 1:3 ratio with the autologous fat grafting group. The primary endpoint was locoregional recurrence. Secondary outcomes were rates of local and distant recurrences, disease-free survival, and overall survival. RESULTS: At a mean follow-up of 65 months after fat grafting, no significant differences were found between the lipofilling and control groups for locoregional recurrence (7.1 percent versus 6.3 percent; p = 0.856), local recurrence (7.1 percent versus 5.6 percent; p = 0.705), distant recurrence (14.3 percent versus 7.9 percent; p = 0.238), disease-free survival (21.4 percent versus 19.0 percent; p = 0.837), and overall survival (14.3 percent versus 7.1 percent; p = 0.181). CONCLUSIONS: No evidence of increased risk in any of the survival outcomes was identified. Lipofilling seems to be a safe procedure for breast reconstruction after surgical treatment of breast cancer. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, III.