Breast implants safer than first thought when it comes to breast cancer

Apr 19 2006

According to a new study silicone breast implants do not affect the risk of breast cancer in women who have cosmetic surgery.

The researchers say that smoking, weight and giving birth had a greater impact, but the implants do possibly increase the risk of lung cancer.

The researchers from the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Centre in Tennessee and the International Epidemiology Institute have conducted one of the longest studies of cosmetic breast implants to date.

Although the scientists found women with the devices had an increased risk of lung cancer and a decreased rate of breast cancer compared with the general population, they could not link either result to the implants.

An earlier study found women who had cosmetic implant surgery were twice as likely to smoke than the general population, and the researchers suggest that may explain the increase in lung cancer in these women.

Lead researcher Joseph McLaughlin says the company was not involved in designing the study, collecting data or analysing results from the study, which began in 1994.

His team, which included researchers from Karolinska Institute in Sweden, analysed government data from 3,486 Swedish women who first received implants between 1965 and 1993 and on average, the women were followed for about 18 years.

They found 180 total cases of cancer, including skin, ovarian, and brain, and that occurrence was a similar rate to the general population of Swedish women.

Twenty cases of lung cancer were found, compared with an expected 9 cases based on population estimates and fifty-three cases of breast cancer were reported, compared with an expected 72 cases.

These results come as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering granting final approval for silicone breast implants made by two other manufacturers, Mentor Corp. and Inamed Corp., which was acquired by Allergan Inc.

According to FDA officials the implants will be widely sold in the United States if certain, undisclosed conditions are met, as they are in other countries.

Some women believe that leaking silicone from implants can cause chronic debilitating illnesses and some studies have shown the devices can cause scarring and other minor complications, but most have not linked them to long-term health problems.

McLauglin says the study is just a part of a series of research Dow Corning began funding in 1994 at his and other institutions.

His team expects to complete two additional studies on implants and long-term disease within a year.

The research is published in the current issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.