Breast tissue engineering

Abstract

From repairing small soft tissue defects of the face to rebuilding the entire breast mound subsequent to radical mastectomy, reconstructive surgeons face a multitude of challenges. Although much has been achieved, the inadequacies of current restorative and reparative techniques have served as the clinical impetus for developing rational and translatable adipose tissue engineering strategies. This chapter focuses on these state-of-the-art tissue engineering strategies as applied to breast cancer rehabilitation, specifically post-oncologic breast tissue engineering. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.