Breast cancer reconstruction advancement using a novel gel matrix

A patients own fat can be used for correcting a defect after breast cancer surgery - of which there are around 27,000 operations per year. Transferring fat from one part of the body to another greatly improves lives. However, the majority of this fat gets resorbed. The leads to numerous operations (and associated complications) to achieve a desired reconstructive outcome.

Janak Bechar and his team working from the Department of Surgery at Warwick University aim to demonstrate how using a novel engineered gel scaffold around fat cells can improve fat survival, resulting in a patient having fewer procedures. They hypothesis that this novel gel will provide mechanical support for fat cells and aid cell metabolism, improving fat cell survival. Their novel engineered gel has the potential to allow fat transfer reconstruction to take place in a single operation, without the need for further operations. This will improve satisfaction in breast cancer survivors and also bring economic savings in the NHS through mitigating further operations.