However, there is currently no evidence that it can cause cancer in humans. What is the relationship between breast implants and cancer risk? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released a recall of a certain type of breast implant with a textured surface BIOCELL, manufactured by Allergan. The FDA acted after reports of 573 cancer cases and 33 deaths worldwide from rare lymphoma were associated with these breast implants. In total, 481 of those cancers involve patients who, according to the FDA statement, have Allergan breast implants at the time of diagnosis.
Patients often have questions about breast implants and breast cancer risk. John Zinsser explains that studies have not found an increased risk of breast cancer among patients with breast augmentation. Breast reconstruction after cancer is a well-known surgery. But reconstructive surgeons also perform many other cancer-related procedures.
They move tissue around the body and create parts of the body that have been changed by disease or treatment. This is often done with cancers of the head and neck, for example. Few medical devices have been studied as thoroughly as breast implants. Since their introduction in the 1960s, silicone breast implants have been the subject of numerous studies evaluating their safety for long-term use.
The vast majority of these studies have shown that breast implants do not cause any serious illness, including cancer. However, in recent years, concerns have arisen about a specific type of implant due to its possible relationship with BIA-ALCL. Many people mistakenly assume that elective (optional) procedures, such as cosmetic surgery, are not as serious as other types of surgery. Although that risk may be less than 1%, death may occur during the most minor surgery.
The news has many women who have undergone breast reconstruction after mastectomy or cosmetic breast augmentation worried about their health. National mortality rates after ambulatory cosmetic surgery and low rates of detection and prophylaxis of perioperative deep vein thrombosis. In a way, cosmetic surgery may be more difficult than most standard surgeries if the patient does not tolerate the surgery well.
