FDA warns breast implants can trigger skin cancers

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns that breast implants can cause one type of skin cancer, as well as other cancers of the immune system.

A safety alert issued Thursday said that although “rare,” there have been several confirmed cases of squamous cell carcinoma – a type of skin cancer – and a few lymphomas in the scar tissue surrounding the implants.

They are now investigating whether implants can cause these tumors and are telling doctors and patients to watch out for symptoms such as swelling, lumps and skin changes. Although the risk is very low, breast implants have already been linked to immune system cancer.

This is because devices are becoming increasingly popular, with research showing that more than three-quarters of plastic surgeons in America are facing increasing demand. Nearly a quarter say sales have doubled.

The FDA said the tumors are not the same as breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a cancer already known to be caused by implants.

He added that doctors and patients should be “aware” of the risk that other cancers may also result from implants.

Fewer than 20 cases of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) have been identified in the skin around the implants so far, he said. There have also been less than 30 cases of various lymphomas in the skin around the implants.

The FDA added that it has received 10 medical reports from SCC on breast cancer and 12 on lymphoma.

In some cases, patients had implants years before they became ill.

Warning signs were swelling, pain, lumps and skin changes.

The cases arose during a standard review of reports of cancer in people with breast implants submitted to the FDA.

More than a decade ago, the FDA was the first to warn of a possible link between tissue implants and a rare cancer.

Eventually, it led to the pharmaceutical company Allergan’s global recall of tissue breast implants linked to cancer.

But the FDA stopped banning the implants, stating that some women with cancer had been given slippery implants.

However, cases of cancer are rare, and by estimates, about one in 3,000 to 30,000 women receives implants that improve it.

Efforts have also been made to educate patients about the health risks of receiving breast implants.

Last year, new labeling was introduced, along with a patient checklist, to inform people that implants are not life-long medical devices.

Physicians should guide patients through health issues to give patients the opportunity to withdraw from the procedure.

It comes after a survey by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons last month revealed that many are seeing an increase in demand.

It’s run by Americans who are more willing to spend money on procedures they say, probably because most of them were saved during the COVID pandemic. According to the survey, a culture of working from home can provide much more time to recover from procedures without loss of income.