Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women worldwide, as reported by the World Health Organization, counting 2.261.419 new cases in 2020, with an increase of 11.7% with respect to the previous year.[1]
Post-mastectomy breast reconstruction using breast implants represents the 80% of cases in comparison with autologous reconstruction. Furthermore, a widespread use of breast implants is documented in cosmetic
surgical procedures. Nevertheless, despite the extremely common use of these medical devices, there is a very limited amount of knowledge regarding safety concerns associated with breast implants modifications or damages over time inside the body.
The analysis of physical changes occurring in the implants during aging and the selection of reliable accelerated techniques to predict the variation of mechanical properties with use is of fundamental importance in order to define the expected lifetime of the implants and to program reliable explantation/replacement time periods. Moreover, in the past few years has emerged a correlation between breast implants with textured surfaces and the onset, many years later, of a non-Hodgkin lymphoma known as Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL).[2]
The goals of this project are: a deeper understanding of the process of aging on both in vitro and ex-vivo prosthesis; a detailed analysis of the immune system landscapes and the microbiome present in the peri-prosthesis fluid of patients; the development of an in vitro model that simulate the in vivo relation between the implant microenvironment – characterized by the microbial population and the host immune system – and the prosthesis surface texture. To address these goals, we will leverage on a highly interdisciplinary team in order to evaluate the biological, physical and mechanical aspects of this problem which involves changes in the hosting human body as well as changes within the prosthesis material itself. We believe that the interdisciplinary nature of our team will be instrumental to advance our understanding of the safety issues related to breast implants.