Received: 13 April 2019 Revised: 6 November 2019 Accepted: 11 November 2019 DOI: 10.1002/term.2999 REVIEW Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strategies for the female breast Claudio Conci | Lorenzo Bennati | Chiara Bregoli | Federica Buccino | Francesca Danielli | Michela Gallan | Ereza Gjini | Manuela T. Raimondi Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta”, Abstract Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy The complexity of mammary tissue and the variety of cells involved make tissue Correspondence regeneration an ambitious goal. This review, supported by both detailed macro and Claudio Conci, Department of Chemistry, micro anatomy, illustrates the potential of regenerative medicine in terms of Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy. mammary gland reconstruction to restore breast physiology and morphology, dam- Email:
[email protected] aged by mastectomy. Despite the widespread use of conventional therapies, many Funding information critical issues have been solved using the potential of stem cells resident in adipose European Research Council (ERC), European tissue, leading to commercial products. in vitro research has reported that adipose Union's Horizon 2020Research and Innovation programme, Grant/Award Number: stem cells are the principal cellular source for reconstructing adipose tissue, ductal 646990-NICHOID; Italian Ministry of epithelium, and nipple structures. In addition to simple cell injection, construct made University and Research, Grant/Award Number: MIUR-FARE 2016, project BEYOND, by cells seeded on a suitable biodegradable scaffold is a viable alternative from a Cod. R16ZNN2R9K long-term perspective. Preclinical studies on mice and clinical studies, most of which have reached Phase II, are essential in the commercialization of cellular therapy prod- ucts.