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Can Breast Implants Cause Cancer?

For many years, women who have had implants are anxious because of rumors that linked the silicone implants used for breast augmentation Thailand packages to cancer. The insinuation has been strong enough to dissuade some women from carrying out the procedure while those that have had it already had to suffer sleepless nights because of the uncertainty of their fate.

However, there are times when implants are inevitable, like when a woman has gone through a breast surgery. At such points, breast reconstruction is needed to restore her feminine look and implant happens to be part of the process.

Some of the apprehension women faces are from the possibility of the silicone gel leaking out of the plastic silicone membrane sacs into the tissue. Some women who have had leaks have complained of severe tiredness, joint pains and aching but extensive studies have shown that the mentioned symptoms are unconnected to the leak.

It may be difficult to tell if implants can cause cancer because it may be hard to ascertain if a woman with implant developed cancer before or after the implant. December, in 2011 for example, a certain prothese (PIP) implant was shown to be made of a particular kind of silicone which had adverse health implication. Its usage was put on hold after the discovery.

The European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) carried out series of research in 2013 and reported that it was unnecessary to have leaking implants removed unless it became a serious confidence concern to the carrier. This proposal received a nod from the Medicines and Regulatory Health Products Agency (MHRA).

To reduce the risk of leakage, breast implants Thailand makes use of a special silicone plastic bag that is thicker than the usual. Also, the gels are made to be thicker making it harder to leak.

A new report by Maura Duffy in 2014 tends to disagree with what we already know. The report said that carcinogens (even the very strong ones like tobacco) take years to cause cancer (and no one has studied implants long enough).

Maura Duffy report linked implants to a kind of cancer of the immune system called anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). This cancerous cell appears in the lungs, liver, lymph node, skin or soft tissue. It has also been found growing in women with breast implants.

ALCL is associated with pain on the joints and swellings. The body will naturally form antibodies against foreign bodies and implants are foreign bodies. The response here would normally be formation of scar tissues around the implants which is where the symptoms stem from.

If you have had breast implant or any other insertion in the body and you are in doubt of the health safety (particularly when there is a leak), it is advised you see the physician who carried out the implant for clarification and checks. It is also pertinent to go for medical checks a few times every year.