About the episode
For some women with breast cancer, removal of an entire breast is the best treatment. In some cases, such as when it appears that someone has a genetically increased risk of developing breast cancer, this is already done preventively.
There are several options for breast reconstruction after this treatment if such reconstruction is desired. Including the well-known breast implants, which are not possible in all cases and have not always been proven to be safe. Or the use of skin and fatty tissue from the abdomen. But this treatment also has disadvantages. The operation takes a long time, six to eight hours, and you are left with a scar on your abdomen.
And so the researchers at UMC+ in Maastricht were curious about a third method: lipofilling. A plastic surgeon uses fat from, for example, the hip, thigh or abdomen and injects it into the chest.
This is already used to fill imperfections after a previous reconstruction or for partial reconstructions, but had not yet proven safe and effective for complete reconstruction of the breast.
The research has now looked at 91 patients who received a reconstruction with their own fat tissue and 80 patients who received an implant. According to the researchers, there were no indications that treatment with their own fat tissue was unsafe, and this group reported an improved quality of life after the operation.
The Istituto Superiore di Sanità has now decided that the treatments will be reimbursed from 1 January 2023 – under certain conditions.
Read more: New method for breast reconstruction after research at UMC+ in Maastricht
