They are extremely rare, he added, and the new warning should not cause widespread alarm. Realizing that ALCL is involved in breast implants has “allowed us to be more aware that other things could be happening in that area,” Dr. Clemens said.
“If ALCL isn’t common, these are rare,” he added. It has long been known that scar tissue, such as scar tissue from breast implant surgery, can cause squamous cell carcinoma, Dr. Clemens added.
“A wound that tries to heal and tries to heal for a long time can develop into these things,” he said. But the exact nature of the relationship between implants and cancer, and whether transplants cause cancer, remains unclear, he said.
In a typical year, about 400,000 women receive breast implants in the United States, 300,000 for cosmetic reasons, and 100,000 for reconstruction after having a mastectomy to treat or prevent breast cancer.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, numbers dropped dramatically in the first year of the pandemic.
Last year, the FDA placed so-called black box labels on breast implants, warning that they have been linked to a range of chronic diseases, including autoimmune disease, joint pain, mental disorders, muscle pain. and chronic fatigue, as well as lymphoma.
