WASHINGTON, (MILLAT/APP/AFP) – Nine women are believed
to have died in the United States from a rare cancer linked to breast implants, US health officials said Tuesday, with more than 350 cases of the disease recorded nationwide.
A possible association between breast implants and anaplastic
large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) was first identified in 2011 but at the time few cases had been recorded.
Now the US Food and Drug Administration says it has received 359
reports of ALCL linked to implants, including nine fatalities.
“All of the information to date suggests that women with breast
implants have a very low but increased risk of developing ALCL compared to women who do not have breast implants,” said the FDA release.
The health agency said it concurred with the World Health
Organization, which has designated breast-implant associated ALCL “as a rare T-cell lymphoma that can develop following breast implants.”
Most confirmed cases have occurred in women with textured breast
implants as opposed to smooth-surfaced ones, the FDA said.
It also pointed out that the rare condition had been most frequently
identified in women “undergoing implant revision operations for late onset,
persistent seroma” — a build-up of fluid under the skin.
The type of implant filler appeared to make less difference, with 186
of the medical reports recording breasts filled with silicone gel and 126
recording saline filler. The rest did not specify.
The FDA said the exact number of cases remained difficult to
calculate owing to limitations in global reporting and implant sales data.