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BREAST IMPLANTS FOUND NOT TO INCREASE BREAST CANCER RISK.

One to two million women in the U.S. have received breast implants, 80 percent of them for cosmetic purposes. One of the concerns raised about breast augmentation implants has been that they may increase the risk of breast cancer. A large Canadian study challenges that assertion.

Researchers identified 11,676 women in Alberta who received breast implants for cosmetic reasons (rather than for reconstruction after mastectomy) from 1973 through 1986. Using the province's cancer registry, they identified 41 women with implants who subsequently developed first primary breast malignancies. Based on age-specific and calendar- year-specific estimates, the number of cancers expected in the population at large was 86.2; thus, the observed rate of primary breast cancer among women with implants was about 45 percent lower than expected. The implant cohort was followed for average of 10.2 years; the average interval between breast implantation and the diagnosis of cancer was 7.5 years.

This very large, long-term, and carefully-performed study suggests that cosmetic breast implants do not increase the risk of breast cancer and could even confer some protective effect. However, since the study could not control for known or presumed breast cancer risk factors, it cannot completely eliminate the possibility of risk.

— ALK

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine June 23, 1992

Citation(s):

Berkel H et al. Breast augmentation: a risk factor for breast cancer. N Engl J Med 1992 Jun 18 326 1649-1653.

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