Reconstructive Breast Surgery and Lipofilling: Safe or Risk? Oncologic Outcome of 116 Procedures

Aims of the study: Autologous fat graft injection has been systematically used by our team since 2001 in order to enhance the esthetic outcomes of breast reconstructions. This study evaluated the oncologic follow-up at 3 years of 110 patients operated on and monitored by two surgeons. Patients and Method: Between January 2001 and December 2011, 116 fat graft injections done in 110 patients requiring reconstructive breast surgery were included in the study with analysis of the oncologic follow-up. The mean follow-up after the initial breast cancer procedure was 6.3 years (9 months to 17 years) and, after the last lipofilling, 3 years (6 months to 9.5 years). Results: The majority of patients are alive and recurrence-free (91,8%). 8.2% of patients developed remote metastases: 1 patient had local and systemic recurrence, 1 patient had local, regional and systemic recurrence. Conclusion: Our results support the hypothesis that lipofilling has no or only marginal effects on probablility of locoregional recurrence of breast cancer.