Nine US deaths linked to breast implant-associated cancer

WASHINGTON: Nine women are believed to have died in the United States from a rare cancer linked to breast implants, US health officials said on 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 Organisation, 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.