FDA links rare cancer to breast implants

CPerricone

This bomb-shell is terrifying for those of us who chose the textured, natural-shaped implants for reconstruction! If you missed the news, do a Google search for "FDA cancer link breast implants" (Sorry, the forum won't let me post a link.)

According to CNN, "The extremely rare cancer, called anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) affects cells in the immune system and can be found around the breast implant. It can be found in the skin or lymph nodes, and is not a type of breast cancer. Most of the cancer cases occurred in people who had textured surfaces on their implants, rather than smooth surfaces."

The FDA stresses the lymphoma is still very rare, and on average takes 10-years to develop, so it is NOT recommending removal of the implants. "Because it has generally only been identified in patients with late onset of symptoms such as pain, lumps, swelling, or asymmetry, prophylactic breast implant removal in patients without symptoms or other abnormality is not recommended." Instead, the FDA recommends continued monitoring and screenings such as mammography to watch for changes such as .

BUT WHAT ABOUT THOSE OF US WHO DON'T GET MAMMOGRAMS because of reconstruction???! As usual, the report focuses mainly on the hundreds of thousands of woman who ELECT to have this done to their bodies. I want to see the FDA (or other appropriate agency) put pressure on health insurers to fully pay for annual or biennial MRIs as "preventive" screenings for women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer! My insurance currently covers 80% of the cost of an MRI, after I've met my deductible. The total out-of-pocket would be about $1000! And with the uncertainty surrounding healthcare - coverages going down and deductibles going up - who knows what will be covered next year? Shouldn't we have access to the piece of mind from KNOWING??

MTwoman

this is certainly alarming. I'm going to go and do some research on this.

My concern about MRIs every 6 months (edited to read, every 12 months) is the very real risk of gadolinium toxicity, which researchers are still trying to understand. The EU has now banned 4 specific formulations, which happen to be the most commonly used here. It seems to accumulate in the body, and continued repeated exposures pose a risk as well; so the risk must be balanced with the risk of NOT doing it.

MTwoman

Here is an NCCN consensus guideline on the Diagnosis and Management of Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma:

https://academic.oup.com/asj/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/asj/sjw259

It was published in Feb, 2017. I don't have time to read it just now, but will do that a bit later and try to provide a synopsis here, if someone doesn't beat me to it

exercise_guru

Can someone read this and post about possible screening for this cancer and how it is diagnosed. Especially symptoms so that those with these implants are aware without getting terrified.

CPerricone

P.S. - Biennial, meaning every two years. I agree that every six months would be excessive.

SpecialK

From MT's article it seems that ultrasound may be the better tool for detection, MRI as a fallback for further investigation. Also according to the newly released info it appears that this is not limited to textured, that approx. 10% of the diagnoses were in patients with smooth implants. Also important to keep this in perspective - 1 case per every 300,000 patients.

Icantri

I posted the FDA link yesterday if you are interested. It is in the Breast Reconstruction forum, titled something about textured implants. If you can't find it and want it I can post it here if you let me know

Moderators

Hi all -- see Breastcancer.org's take on this news:

FDA Updates Warning on Link Between Textured Breast Implants and Rare Cancer
March 22, 2017
Women with breast implants have a very low but increased risk of developing anaplastic large-cell lymphoma compared to women who do not
have breast implants. Read more...