This scary side effect has affected hundreds of women.
Women with breast implants may be at risk for a
rare kind of cancer that occurs in the scar tissue surrounding the
implant, according to new warnings from the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA's statement follows 359
reports of cancer developing in implant recipients, including nine fatal
cases.
While this particular kind of cancer does occur in
the breast, this kind is known as anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL),
a cancer that involves the body's immune system and is considered
different from typical breast cancers.
Textured
implants, which have microscopic grooves for breast tissue to grow into,
appear to be most problematic: Among the 231 reported cases that noted
implant surface, 203 were textured. Implant material doesn't seem to
make a major difference in risk: Both silicone gel and saline-filled
implants have been implicated in cancer cases.
A
telltale symptom of ALCL in women with breast implants is newfound
breast problems like pain, lumps, swelling, or asymmetry that kick in
well after recovery from your initial implant surgery. Typically,
removing the implant and surrounding tissue can leave you cancer-free,
but some women require further treatment, including chemotherapy and
radiation.
That said, if you have breast
implants and no problems, don't freak. After all, this type of cancer is
still very rare: We're talking 359 cases among the estimated 399,000
who received breast implants for enlargement or reconstruction after
breast cancer in 2016, alone, according to American Society of Plastic
Surgeons stats.
