Doctors repaired breast defects in women who have had cancerous lumps removed by using stem cells from liposuctioned fat for the first time.

After cancer surgery, women are often left with cratered areas of the breast. Although the approach is still in experimental stages, millions of women now have hope in correcting post breast cancer surgery deformities. Without using artificial implants, women who desire breast augmentation surgery could also benefit from the technique.

Doctors in the United States consider the procedure to have great potential, despite the fact that it has been tested on only two dozen women in Japan so far.

“This is a pretty exciting topic right now in plastic surgery,” said Dr. Karol Gutowski of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “There are people all over the country working on this.”

Larger studies are in the works, and they should take place in Japan and Europe next year. The initial Japanese study was reported Saturday at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

Each year in the United States, more than 100,000 women have lumps removed from their breasts. Taking the entire breast, mastectomies are sometimes necessary, but lumpectomies are often the procedure of choice. However, as much as a third of a woman’s breast may still be removed, and what’s left is often deformity.

“It’s almost a euphemism” to call it a lumpectomy, said Dr. Sydney Coleman, a plastic surgeon at New York University who is interested in the stem cell approach.

Dr. Sameer Patel, a reconstructive surgeon at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, said that the defect “initially may not be as noticeable”. However, he was quick to point out that the result often worsens, especially if the woman undergoes radiation treatment.

“There’s a growing push to try to involve the plastic surgeon particularly for this reason