BREAST CANCER
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women with lifetime risk of estimated at 1 in 8 women globally. In more than 50%, Mastectomy is the usual treatment, followed by chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide with lifetime risk estimated at 1 in 8 women. In 2020, there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer globally. As of the end of 2020, there were 7.8 million women alive who were diagnosed with breast cancer in the past 5 years, making it the world’s most prevalent cancer. In 2020, the European Commission published the breast cancer burden in EU-27 countries with an estimated incidence of 355,457 new cases compared to 2019. The lifetime risk of breast cancer in Europe is 1 to 7 and is higher than the global risk, thus being the most diagnosed cancer in females in Europe.
​
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women. In 2021, it's estimated that about 30% of newly diagnosed cancers in women will be breast cancers. Breast cancer became the most common cancer globally as of 2021, accounting for 13% of all new annual cancer cases worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.​
While breast cancer is curable in ~80% of patients, it often leaves women physically and psychologically impaired because more than 50% of thee women undergo mastectomy. In women, the loss of the symbols of femininity following mastectomy results in low self-esteem and negative body image. Breast reconstruction plays a central role in holistic breast cancer management, increasing patients’ quality of life by restoring their femininity.
Breast reconstruction to restore the femininity, plays a central role in holistic breast cancer management. Reconstruction procedure offered are silicone implants by surgery and non-surgical autologous fat tissue grafting. Although commonly used for breast reconstruction, silicone implants are limited because they increase the lifetime risk of patients redeveloping cancer in the breast. Fat grafting is emerging as safer technique than the use of silicone implants and is the preferred method by plastic surgeons. Nevertheless, fat is quickly resorbed and currently, there are no solutions for preventing its resorption.