Thaindian News

Washington DC, Feb 1 (THAINDIAN NEWS) About 60 cases of a rare form of cancer have been associated with breast implants.

The Food and Drugs Administration in the United States indicated that the reported cases are too rare to spark a probe into the safety of breast implants.

The cancer called anaplastic large cell lymphoma or ALCL is very rare. The condition is also one of the most aggressive forms of blood cancers in the world. Experts are worried that there may be a link between breast implants and the disease. The condition though is different from breast cancer.

Information on the disease shows that symptoms may develop after 23 years and that is why so few women are diagnosed with the condition every year. Every year, only one in 500,000 is likely to be diagnosed with the condition.

On the record, about only three women without breast implants have been diagnosed with the disease.

Internationally renowned plastic surgeon, Dr. Patrick Proffer, explained the fears. He said “The majority of those that have been diagnosed have been what’s called a late, on-set seroma where you get a fluid collection around the implant. One side enlarges noticeably in comparison with the other. Most of them have not been diagnosed from symptoms, but from a change in the implant, whether it was a lump or a mass, or an increase in the size of the implant.”

Silicon or saline implants breast implants remain one of the most tested materials in history. Until lately, the materials have been found to be largely safe.