Doctor: If You See Swelling Or Feel Pain In Your Breast Implants, Consult Your Plastic Surgeon Immediately
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Food and Drug Administration was meeting again Tuesday to address the possible risks of breast implants.
The agency reported last fall on a rare cancer in women with a certain type of implant.
There are two different issues the FDA is considering. First is the rare cancer associated with implants that have a rough or textured shell. The other is reports of non-specific symptoms like joint pain, fatigue, mental confusion, dry eyes, and hair loss, CBS2's Dr. Max Gomez reported.
Sandra Rush is a grandmother who'd had breast implants for more than two decades with no issues, until April 2017.
"My left breast began to swell and it ... there was a hardness in it," Rush said.
What her doctor at first thought was a common infection, turned out to be something called breast implant-associated anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL), a rare cancer the FDA says has developed in some women with breast implants.
Most women who get that cancer, like Rush, have what are called textured breast implants that have a rougher surface.
"They were thought to reduce the rate of capsular contracture which is scar tissue around the implant. This can be uncomfortable. It can deform the implant. That was one of the reasons why these implants really took off," said Dr. Alyssa Golas of NYU Langone Health.
But reports to the FDA show 457 ALCL cancer cases. At least 310 in women with textured implants. Most women are cured after doctors take the implants out.
The country's three largest breast implant manufacturers say textured implants have been extensively tested for safety and comply with FDA monitoring, and that patient safety is their top priority. Mentor says the cancer risk is rare with its implants.
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Golas, a plastic surgeon, said there are risks of removing the implants unless there are symptoms.
"If you do notice a change such as swelling or a change in shape, then you have to immediately go to see your plastic surgeon," Golas said.
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The more difficult issue to resolve scientifically is the so-called implant-associated illness because those symptoms are so common.
"Do we know that women who have breast implants are more likely to have these symptoms than women who do not," Dr. Golas said.
The ALCL cancer in Rush did spread. She needed chemo and radiation and is now cancer free. The FDA expert panel has now advised that it's too early to ban the textured breast implants and did not recommend any immediate restrictions on implants. As many as 400,000 women a year get implants. The risk of ALCL cancer is estimated between 1 in 3,000 to 1 in 30,000.
