FDA to Monitor Breast Implants for Cancer Risk

FDA to Monitor Breast Implants for Cancer Risk

Last week, U.S. health officials announced plans to investigate a possible association between breast implants and anaplastic large cell lymphoma – a rare but treatable cancer.

According to the FDA, the cancer risk – if it exists – is very small. Five to 10 million women have received implants in the past decade, and only 60 cases of the cancer have been reported worldwide (34 documented in medical literature).

We spoke to URMC’s Chief of Plastic Surgery Dr. Howard Langstein (he performs more than 75 breast implant surgeries a year, both for patients seeking augmentation, and for those seeking reconstruction after cancer — e.g., after mastectomy) to see how patients should interpret the news.

Dr. Langstein warns that women with implants need not worry, undergo tests or have implants removed if they are not having problems.  Rather, they should simply continue to conduct routine breast self-exams.

To hear Dr. Langstein make more sense of the FDA announcement, watch the clip below.

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*  The above story is adapted from materials provided by University of Rochester Medical Center

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