Dubious Comfort Dept.:
A new study by Swedish researchers has found no evidence relating to increased risk for women who have undergone breast enlargement surgery.Yang Li/Xinhua 19.Apr.06
The findings appear in the April 19 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The study said that said smoking habits, weight and giving birth had a greater impact. Excess weight, childlessness and older age at first birth all raise the risk of breast cancer, not necessarily the silicone implants.
The research team, led by Joseph McLaughlin, president of the International Epidemiology Institute in Rockville, Md., analysed government data from 3,486 Swedish women who first received implants for cosmetic reasons between 1965 and 1993. On average, women were followed for about 18.4 years.
The research found women with the devices had an increased risk of lung cancer and a decreased rate of breast cancer compared with the general population, but neither result could be linked to the implants.
"Women with silicone breast implants should feel reassured," McLaughlin conluded.
The safety of silicone breast implants has long been a subject for debate. The United States banned silicone breast implants in 1992 for cosmetic purposes amid concerns that silicone leakage could cause a variety of diseases, ranging from immune system disorders, arthritis, lupus to cancer.
Dow Corning Corporation, once the world's largest maker of silicone gel breast implants, funded the study.
In 1999, the company filed for bankruptcy and spent $3.2 billion (1.8 billion pounds) to settle lawsuits from thousands of patients who alleged silicone implants made them sick.
One expert questioned the connection.
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Studies Find No Ill Effects From Mercury in FillingsThomas H. Maugh II/LATimes 19.Apr.06
Critics, however, charged that the studies were not designed to detect problems that might manifest themselves in adulthood, as has been observed with some other metals, such as lead.
"The question of subtle effects remains open," wrote Dr. Herbert Needleman of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in an editorial in the same journal.
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"During the period when the children are growing and developing, we didn't see any effect," DeRouen said. "This is the only objective evidence we have at this point…. Everything else is anecdotal."
