Breast implants may trigger the development of a rare kind of cancer in some women, researchers have found.
Reports from around the world have revealed 71 cases of the lymphoma where doctors found a link to breast implants.
Anaplastic large cell lymphoma usually develops in the lymph nodes but can appear in the skin, lung, liver and soft tissue.
Researchers in Vienna, Austria, found cases where it developed in the region of the breast and almost all cases involved people who had breast surgery – when the disease appeared about ten years after the operation in the scar tissue that followed the operation.
The researchers say that implant-related ALCL is a new form of the disease – and patients have had good survival rates. The disease is normally classified according to the appearance of a protein ALK – anaplastic lymphoma kinase – which heralds an improved chance of survival.
But in the case of breast implant related disease, ALK does not appear but the patients have still had good survival.
The research was backed by the UK-based Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.
Researcher Lukas Kenner, of Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien, said: "This is a previously unrecognised, new subtype of ALCL. We must now determine the exact causes behind its occurrence."
Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) and breast implants: Breaking down the evidence. Mutation Research 6 October 2014; doi:10.1016/j.mrrev.2014.08.002
Leave a Reply