Reconstruction of the human nipple-areolar complex: a tissue engineering approach.

Nipple-areolar complex (NAC) reconstruction after breast cancer surgery is challenging and does not always provide optimal long-term esthetic results. Therefore, generating a NAC using tissue engineering techniques, such as a decellularization-recellularization process, is an alternative option to recreate a specific 3D NAC morphological unit, which is then covered with an regenerated epidermis and, thereafter, skin-grafted on the reconstructed breast. Human NACs were harvested from cadaveric donors and decellularized using sequential detergent baths.