Implants troubled study's cancer patients

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Posted on Wed, Jan. 18, 2006

Implants troubled study's cancer patients

By Lindsey

TannerASSOCIATED PRESSCHICAGO - Breast implants in

women who have undergone mastectomies often result in

complications that require more surgery, a study in

Denmark found.

Over a period of up to four years, about one-third of

such patients developed at least one potentially

serious complication, including thick, tight scarring

and infections, the researchers reported. Implant

ruptures were rare, with only five reported among the

574 Danish women studied.

Overall, about 20 percent of the women studied

required surgery to treat the problems, according to

the study by Danish Cancer Society researchers and

scientists at the International Epidemiology Institute

in Rockville, Md.

One surgeon said in an accompanying editorial that the

numbers are " alarmingly high and arguably

unacceptable. "

The study appears in the December issue of Archives of

Surgery. It was paid for by the institute, which

receives funding from the Dow Corning Corp., a former

maker of silicone breast implants.

Zuckerman, president of the National Research

Center for Women and Families, said the complication

rate for implants in mastectomy patients is actually

much higher than the study suggests.

Most participants got implants several weeks after

breast removal surgery, whereas most U.S. mastectomy

patients who choose implants get them when their

breasts are removed, Zuckerman said. That method,

involving a single round of surgery, is often easier

psychologically because women wake up from their

mastectomies with refashioned breasts, but it is also

more stressful on the body, she said.

Also, Zuckerman said the participants in the study did

not undergo MRI scans, which are the best way to

detect ruptures.

" This study is really missing the boat, " said

Zuckerman, whose group has opposed efforts to return

silicone implants to the market.

All of the women studied got implants, most of them

made of silicone.

Silicone implants have been restricted in the United

States for more than a decade because of fears that

ruptures and leakage might damage women's health. But

some mastectomy patients have continued to receive

them.

The American Cancer Society estimates more than

200,000 U.S. women will be diagnosed with breast

cancer this year. At least half will have

mastectomies, and Zuckerman said about two-thirds of

those patients choose some type of reconstructive

surgery.

Many have breasts fashioned from excess flesh from

their abdomens -- a method that is less likely than

implants to result in thick scars and generally

requires fewer " revisional " operations, said Dr. Navin

Singh, a s Hopkins University surgeon and author

of the accompanying editorial.

Singh said mastectomy patients are more prone to

complications than healthy women seeking implants for

purely cosmetic reasons, because much of their breast

tissue and surrounding skin are removed during cancer

surgery, giving doctors less to work with.

Also, some mastectomy patients may undergo radiation

and chemotherapy, which can increase the risk of

implant complications, he said.

Meredith Cobb, a hotline counselor for the

Chicago-based breast cancer advocacy group Y-ME, said

her silicone implants are not symmetrical and she

needs more surgery to fix them. Still, the Colorado

Springs, Colo., woman, who was diagnosed with breast

cancer in 2003 at age 26, said her implants have

helped her " feel whole again. "

" I wouldn't give them up now, " she said. " A lot of

people might not go through another surgery, but it's

something that I'm willing to do, " Cobb said.

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