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College

Seattle University

Major

Biology

Faculty Mentor

Brett Kaiser

Faculty Editor

Brett Kaiser

Student Editor

Masami Carpenter and Olivia Moretta

Abstract

Breast cancer diagnoses may necessitate a bilateral or unilateral mastectomy; this involves the removal of breast tissue and affected surrounding area. Breast reconstruction to restore pre-surgical appearance has become commonplace as the rate of breast cancer incidence has increased. Shortcomings and frequent complications with these treatments have resulted in the proposition that established treatment methods be supplemented with adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) collected from the patient. ADSCs may be isolated from adult adipose tissue and are widely applicable in stem cell therapeutics due to their unique characteristics such as pluripotency and widely observed paracrine effects. Although concerns have been voiced over safety and efficacy due to ADSCs’ purported role in oncological processes when employing in vitro or non-human models, a vast majority of experiments have suggested that this is a promising treatment method and may help moderate postoperative complications. Further studies are necessary to review clinical benefits and establish standard results and practices.

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