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Adipose tissue of breast: anatomy, location and function

Fat fills the spaces between the lobes of the mammary gland and gives the breast most of its size and shape. It supports and cushions the glandular tissue.

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Highlighted in the model: Adipose tissue of breast. Click any part to read about it, or switch off “Highlight topic” to see the whole body. Use Male / Female to switch bodies. 3D data: BodyParts3D, © The Database Center for Life Science; knee ligaments, menisci, tonsils, palate and parotid glands from the Human Reference Atlas Visible Human Male model and female parts from its Visible Human Female model (HuBMAP / NIH); lung lobes built from the BodyParts3D chest; all CC BY 4.0; meshes simplified and recoloured. The female body shares the male skeleton, muscles and organs except its pelvis, reproductive organs, breasts, bladder, urethra and skin.

Adipose tissue of breast at a glance

What it is
Fat fills the spaces between the lobes of the mammary gland and gives the breast most of its size and shape.
Location
It surrounds the glandular lobes under the skin and lies in front of the deep fascia over pectoralis major.
Function
It supports and cushions the glandular tissue.
Body system
Reproductive · paired (left and right) · female body
FMA ID
FMA73166 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)

Key facts

  • The proportion of fat varies with body weight and rises after menopause, when glandular tissue regresses.
  • A loose retromammary space between the breast and the deep fascia lets the breast move on the chest wall.
  • In the model it is shown translucent so the lobes and ducts inside are visible.

Clinical relevance

Fatty breasts look dark on mammograms, so cancers show up more easily than in dense glandular breasts.

Structures next to the adipose tissue of breast

The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:

References

  1. Foundational Model of Anatomy: Adipose tissue of breast (FMA73166). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
  2. OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §27.2 Anatomy and Physiology of the Ovarian Reproductive System (The Breasts). Rice University, 2022.
  3. Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
  4. Browne K., Schlehlein H. 3D Reference Organ Set for United, Female (Visible Human Female). Human Reference Atlas 3D Reference Object Library, HuBMAP / NIH. Data from the NLM Visible Human Project. CC BY 4.0.

Related anatomy

Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.