Can I Get a Natural Breast Enhancement with Fat Injections?

Question

I heard about a natural breast enhancement in Europe where they grow your own fat cells in a lab and enlarge your breasts with your own fat cells, for people who do not care for silicone or saline. Is this even possible? Can I enlarge my breasts with fat injections from stem cells or my own body? And if so is it done in the US?

Steven Teitelbaum, MD · Answer

There is a company called Cytori that is conducting clinical trials of breast augmentation overseas using your stem cells, but it doesn't quite work like you described.
The plastic surgeon harvests fat cells, just like with liposuction.  They are processed over about an hour, and the stem cells are separated out.  They add these concentrated stems cells to the fat that they are going inject to "turbocharge" the injection, so that more of the fat cells stay. One of the problems with fat injections is that much of it gets resorbed by the body, but this appears to help the process.  I have spoken to several of the doctors doing this, and they say that it is promising, but that they have only been doing it for a few months and that it is too early to tell how well it really works.
But it is only being done in clinical trials, and it is far from being recommended for routine use.  And so far, it appears helpful only in small degrees of augmentation, such as less than a cup.
Injecting anything into the breast, particularly stem cells, must be done with great caution, and it should not be recommended for general use until there is a long track record of experience.  That is because the breast is a very cancer-prone organ, and most women don't reach the age that cancer is common until several decades or more after getting some sort of an augmentation.  We know that regular breast implants - silicone and saline - do not increase the chance of breast augmentation one iota.  It will take a long time before we know that about injections of stem cells and fat into the breast.
It sounds great.  And it will be. It  will undoubtedly come sooner than "phasers' , but it is still a very long way off.

Jerome Edelstein, MD · Answer

Fat transfer may be natural and sound like a good idea, there are many problems with it:1. only one cup size can be achieved2. some of the re-injected fat calcifies, which could be mistaken for breast cancer on a mammogram.3. you may develop oil cysts and tissue scarring4. results can be unpredictable and require many sessions to achieve your desired results.Currently, there is no research that proves fat transfer is safer than implants (silicone or saline).

Christopher V. Pelletiere, MD · Answer

As of right now, breast enhancement with fat cells, or using your own harvested fat, is not generally recommended.  The reason is that with any fat transfer, you never quite know how much of the fat is going to live and how much is going to die off.  
If some of the fat dies off ( animal studies show that about 50% will be gone in a year), then it can lead to calcifications, mimicking what breast cancer clusters can look like ona mammogram.  This can lead to false positives on a mammogram, or mask detection of breast cancer calcifications.  Until there is a reliable technique to harvest and transfer fat that results in 100% viability over time without calcification, it will always be contraindicated.

Ricardo L. Rodriguez, MD · Answer

Yes, it can be done.

	The American society of Plastic Surgeons recently published a position paper on this issue. There are several surgeons in the US who are augmenting breasts using the patients own fat. Not only is fat being used for cosmetic purposes, it is also being used to help breast reconstruction patients.

	I am presently conducting a study using fat stem cells on breast reconstruction patients who have had radiation damage. The fat stem cells not only provide volume to the breast, but they help to repair the tissue that has been damaged by radiation.

	The usual barrier for people is that it costs more than an implant breast augmentation.

	Check out the video below and the link for more info.

Scott C. Sattler, MD, FACS · Answer

There is a significant amount of controversy about this topic.

	Dr. Sid Coleman in NY has published some amazing breast augmentation work done with autologous fat injections. These amazing results are tough for the average plastic surgeon to replicate, as Dr. Coleman does this sort of procedure frequently. Additionally, the procedure takes a long time to do... several hours and at great expense $$$, compared to less than an hour for a breast augmentation.

	The controversial issue, in my opinion, is the behavior of the fat in the breast once it is injected. We know that fat without adequate blood supply tends to 'saponify' and calcify with time. Mammograms of women that have had breast reductions done have lots of 'spots' on them that do not represent cancer, but make subsequent mammographic evaluation more difficult to do.

	A similar situation exists with fat injections to the breast. Some of that fat is going to become viable grafted tissue, and some is going to become calcified and will produce 'spots' on a mammogram that are challenging to interpret. These 'spots' do not represent cancer, but they obscure and confuse the efforts of the mammographer to detect cancer in the breast if it is there.

	A breast augmentation does not have any causative link to breast cancer, and the presence of a breast implant, especially if it&rsquo;s in the sub-pectoral position, impacts the sensitivity of mammography only minimally.

	My advice would be to avoid fat grafting to the breast for augmentation purposes. It&rsquo;s certainly a safe technique for augmenting the lips and facial soft tissues, and for other body contouring purposes

Can I Get a Natural Breast Enhancement with Fat Injections?

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Everything you need to know about Breast Fat Transfer

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Can I Get a Natural Breast Enhancement with Fat Injections?

Answers (10)

Answer: Breast enhancement with fat

Answer: Breast enhancement with fat

Answer: There is a significant amount of controversy about this...

Answer: There is a significant amount of controversy about this...

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Recommended reading

Everything you need to know about Breast Fat Transfer

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.