Andrew Zajac, The Los Angeles Times: January 26, 2011.
The Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it has begun investigating the possible connection between breast implants and an increased risk of a rare form of cancer.
Though the number of women who may develop the disease is small, there is apparently no way to identify those who are likely to develop it — making it a source of potential concern to all women with the implants.
Among women who do not have implants, the cancer — anaplastic large cell lymphoma, or ALCL — develops in the breast tissue of about 3 out of 100 million women nationwide. [..]
“It raises a red flag about what other immune disease could be occurring that are not obvious,” said Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women & Families.
The FDA based its announcement on a review of scientific literature between 1997 and last May, which reported 34 cases of ALCL in women with breast implants, as well as other information from international regulatory agencies, scientific experts and implant manufacturers, which turned up additional cases. […]
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