When actress Suzanne Somers passed away on Oct. 15, 2023, most people and media outlets, like Today, memorialized her for her acting roles, especially that of Chrissy Snow in “Three’s Company,” the many books she had authored, and her career in wellness, including her work with ThighMaster. Somers also earned a superb reputation among cancer survivors for her 23-year battle with breast cancer. What people may not know is the actress underwent an experimental surgery in 2012, performed by Dr. Joel Aronowitz, helping doctors develop one of the breast reconstruction surgeries commonly used today to help breast cancer survivors regain their original physical form after a lumpectomy or mastectomy.
Breast Reconstructive Surgery
For many years after the development of breast implants, it seemed the only option for a breast cancer survivor who wanted reconstructive surgery. Somers, a staunch health and wellness advocate, did not want a foreign substance implanted in her. The actress turned to Joel Aronowitz, a plastic surgeon in California willing to accept challenging cases and forge ahead with new technologies.
Somers became the first U.S. patient to undergo a technique called Adipose-Derived Stem Cell Breast Reconstruction, according to Med Page Today. Developed in Japan, only 21 patients worldwide had undergone the then-experimental surgery. Because of the willingness and bravery of patients like her, in 2024, breast reconstructive surgery can involve:
• Breast-conserving surgery followed by partial reconstruction
• Implants to reconstruct breasts
• Flap procedures that use the patient’s own body tissues
• Nipple and areola reconstruction post-lumpectomy or mastectomy
• Adipose-derived stem cell treatment.
Together, Aronowitz and Somers helped American survivors of breast cancer have a new, more natural option for reconstruction.
What Adipose-Derived Stem Cell Breast Reconstruction Entails
Adipose means fat in layperson’s terms. The fat in the human body contains stem cells. In adipose-derived stem cell breast reconstruction, the doctor uses liposuction to remove 400 to 600 cc of fat tissue from the patient’s thighs, hips, or abdomen.
In the second step of the procedure, the doctor divides the removed fat into two parts. Half of the removed fat goes through a celutron, a device that washes the fat and spins it in high-speed centrifugations. This process separates the stem cells from the fat, netting about one million cells for each 1 cc of liposuctioned fat. The doctor adds the stem cells to the other half of the removed fat.
Finally, the surgeon injects the stem cell-infused adipose into the breast at the areas that exhibit defects, such as incised areas from a lumpectomy.
Results of Adipose-Derived Stem Cell Breast Reconstruction
Although the results of each patient differ, typically, the patient’s breast size improves immediately. During a period of three to six months, the patient’s breast area skin quality improves and breast fat regrowth or regeneration occurs. Some fat cells don’t survive the transfer process, but the stem cells create new tissue. Although it can take up to six months to see the final outcome, some patients observe skin color, texture, and quality improvements as early as two months after the procedure.
