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The popularity of adipose‐derived cell therapy has increased over the last decade, and the number of studies published annually is growing. However, concerns regarding safety in the setting of previous malignancy or the use of allogeneic cells have been raised. We therefore aimed to systematically review all clinical studies using adipose‐derived cell therapy to identify reported adverse events with a special focus on risk of thromboembolic, immunological, and oncological safety concerns. Our systematic search resulted in 70 included studies involving more than 1,400 patients that were treated with adipose‐derived cell therapy. Safety assessment method was not described in 32 of the included studies. For studies involving systemic or cardiac administration, one case of pulmonary thromboembolism and cases of both myocardial and cerebral infarctions were described. In the setting of allogeneic cell therapy studies, where the production of specific antibodies toward donor cells was examined, it was noted that 19%–34% of patients develop antibodies, but the consequence of this is unknown. With regard to oncological safety, only one case of breast cancer recurrence was identified out of 121 patients. Adipose‐derived cell therapy has so far shown a favorable safety profile, but safety assessment description has, in general, been of poor quality, and only adverse events that are looked for will be found. We encourage future studies to maintain a strong focus on the safety profile of cell therapy, so its safeness can be confirmed. stem cells translational medicine 2017;6:1786–1794

Objective Complex soft tissue reconstruction of the head and neck requires a viable, versatile, and dependable flap. Free flaps, such as the radial forearm and anterolateral thigh flap, have been the mainstay of complex head and neck reconstruction. However, a local pedicled flap, such as the submental island flap (SIF), could be a more effective and less demanding alternative. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to compare free tissue transfer (FTT) with the SIF for head and neck reconstruction. Data Sources We performed a systematic search in PubMed and EMBASE databases. Meta-analysis was performed on outcomes reported in ≥3 studies. Review Methods Candidate articles were assessed for eligibility by 2 authors. Three authors performed data extraction and methodological quality of the included studies using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Form for Cohort Studies. Results The search strategy resulted in 450 studies, of which 7 were included in the analysis, yielding 155 SIF and 198 FTT cases. Operating time and length of stay were significantly lower for the SIF than for FTT ( P = .05 and P = .0008). There was no significant difference between the groups for complete flap loss, debulking revisions, and oncologic recurrence. Conclusion These results suggest that the SIF reduces length of stay and operating time as compared with FTT in head and neck reconstruction. These findings suggest that the SIF can be considered an alternative reconstructive option to FTT when evaluating intraoral, lateral facial, skull base, and parotidectomy defects, given comparable defect size and tumor biology.

Background: Breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is a feared late complication. Present treatment options are lacking. Recent studies have suggested that mesenchymal stromal cells can alleviate lymphedema. Herein, we report the results from the first human pilot study with adipose-derived regenerative cells (ADRC) for treating BCRL with one year follow-up.