U.S. and International Studies of Breast Implants and Breast Cancer
The following is a summary of the epidemiology studies of breast implants and breast cancer conducted by prominent researchers at prestigious institutions. Unlike the reports of individual women (often called case reports or case series), these studies were designed to make comparisons between groups of women with and without breast implants. These more rigorous epidemiology studies provide the opportunity to determine whether breast cancer among women with implants is occurring more frequently than might be expected.
International Epidemiology Institute, Karolinska Institute, and the U. S. National Cancer Institute, McLaughlin, PhD; Nyren, MD; Blot, PhD; et al; Rockville, MD. 1998
Breast Implants/Breast Cancer
This nationwide Swedish study included 3,473 women who had cosmetic breast implant procedures from 1965 through 1993. Followed for an average of 10.3 years, eighteen women developed breast cancer compared to twenty-five expected cases. The authors concluded, “Our study showed a statistically nonsignificant reduction in the incidence of breast cancer that may be due to concomitant risk factors (e.g., lower age at first pregnancy and decreased glandular density).”
In an earlier publication (1995), McLaughlin and colleagues reported
similar findings based on 1,756 women with cosmetic breast implants
in Sweden.
University of Southern California School of Medicine, Deapen, DrPh; Bernstein, PhD; Brody, MD; Los Angeles, CA. 1997
Breast Implants/Breast Cancer
This study reports continued follow-up of more than 3,100 women in Los Angeles County who received cosmetic breast implants between 1953 and 1980. Followed for a median of 14.4 years, thirty-one women with implants subsequently developed breast cancer compared to 49.2 expected cases of breast cancer. The authors concluded, “In Los Angeles County, augmentation mammaplasty patients experience a significantly lower than expected risk of breast cancer and no delay in breast cancer detection . . .”
In two earlier publications (1986, 1992), Deapen and colleagues reported similar conclusions based on following these same women for a median of 6.2 and 10.6 years, respectively.
Directly funded by Dow Corning Corporation.
Danish Cancer Society, International Epidemiology Institute, and the U. S. National Cancer Institute, Friis, MD McLaughlin, PhD; Mellemkjaer, MS; et al; Copenhagen, Denmark. 1997
Breast Implants/ Breast Cancer
This nationwide Danish study included 1,135 women who had cosmetic breast implant procedures between 1977 and 1992. Followed for an average of 8.4 years, eight women developed breast cancer versus 7.8 expected cases. The authors stated, “In summary, breast implants were not related to an excess risk of breast or other cancers in our population-based cohort study.”
In an earlier publication (1994), McLaughlin and colleagues reported similar conclusions based on 824 women with cosmetic breast implants in Denmark.
p(big-top border-top) Hartford Hospital, Kern, MD; Flannery; Kuehn, MD; Hartford, CT. 1997
Breast Implants/Breast Cancer
These authors reported on subsequent cancers in 680 Connecticut women who had breast implant surgery compared to 1,022 women who had tubal ligation surgery and no breast implants. No woman had a prior history of cancer. Women were followed for an average of 4.6 years after implant surgery and 5.4 years after tubal ligation surgery. Women with breast implants had a nonsignificantly lower rate of breast cancer compared to women without implants. The authors stated, “Based on these data, it was concluded that silicone breast implants are not carcinogenic, because they are not associated with increased rates of either breast or nonbreast cancers.”
U. S. National Cancer Institute, Brinton, PhD; Malone, PhD; Coates, PhD; et al; Bethesda, MD. 1996
Breast Implants/Breast Cancer
This study included 2,174 women who had breast cancer and 2,009 women without breast cancer. Breast implants were reported by 36 women with cancer versus 44 women without cancer. This study found that the risk for breast cancer was lower among women who had breast implants. Furthermore, the decreased risk for breast cancer persisted as the time since implantation increased. The authors stated, “In this study, we found that women who had received breast implants were not at an excess risk for developing breast cancer. This finding agrees with all the other analytical studies that have examined the relationship.”
Alberta Cancer Board, Bryant, MD; Brasher, PhD; Alberta, Canada. 1995
Breast Implants/Breast Cancer
This study was a reanalysis of data presented by Berkel, Birdsell, and Jenkins (1992), who reported a lower risk for breast cancer among women with breast implants in Alberta, Canada. Among the 10,835 women included in this reanalysis who had undergone breast augmentation surgery, 45 women subsequently developed breast cancer compared to 59 expected cases of breast cancer. Although the number of cancer cases was lower than expected and consistent with other research studies, since the results were not statistically significant, the authors concluded, “. . . the apparent risk of breast cancer cannot be said to be either higher or significantly lower than that of the general population.”
Birdsell and colleagues (1993), in an earlier study of this general group of women, investigated the survival experience of women with breast cancer diagnosed after breast augmentation. Among the 11,670 women with cosmetic breast implants included in this report, 41 developed breast cancer after augmentation. The survival experience for these 41 women was compared to the survival of all women diagnosed with breast cancer during the same time period (1973-1990 inclusive). The researchers concluded, “In summary, our study shows that women with a breast tumor diagnosed after having had an implant survive as long as women with breast cancer without implants. We did not find that the tumors in women with implants were diagnosed at a later stage and in fact, these tumors were smaller at diagnosis. This . . . allows in our opinion the conclusion that cosmetic breast augmentation is not a cause of concern in regard to breast cancer.”
Institut Gustave Roussy, Petit, MD; Le, MD; Mouriesse, MS; et al;
Villejuif, France. 1994
Breast Implants/Breast Cancer
The researchers studied 146 patients with breast cancer treated by mastectomy who received a gel-filled silicone implant between 1976 and 1984 for reconstruction compared to 146 matched controls with breast cancer who were treated in the same center without reconstruction. The risks of distant metastasis and death due to breast cancer were significantly lower in the breast reconstruction group than in the control group. The risk for second breast cancer did not differ between the two groups of women. The researchers stated, “In conclusion, our results do not support the hypothesis of a detrimental effect of gel-filled silicone implants either in the course of breast cancer or in the risk of death due to other diseases.”
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Malone; Stanford; Daling, PhD; et al; Seattle, WA. 1992
Breast Implants/Breast Cancer
The authors compared the incidence of breast implants among women with breast cancer to the incidence of implants among women without cancer. For their two study groups of women with cancer (women aged 21-44 years and women aged 50-64 years), compared to women without breast cancer, there was no apparent risk for breast cancer due to silicone breast implants.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Glasser, PhD; Lee; Wingo; Atlanta, GA. 1989
Breast Augmentation/ Breast Cancer
Researchers compared 4,742 women with breast cancer (12 of whom had breast augmentation prior to their disease) to 4,754 women without breast cancer (8 of whom had breast augmentation). They found no association between breast augmentation and breast cancer.
bibliogrAPhy for u.s. And intErnAtionAl studiEs of brEAst imPlAnts And brEAst cAncEr
Berkel H, Birdsell DC, Jenkins H. Breast augmentation: a risk factor for breast cancer? N Engl J Med. 1992;326:1649-1653.
Birdsell DC, Jenkins H, Berkel H. Breast cancer diagnosis and survival in women with and without breast implants. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 1993;92:795-800.
Brinton LA, Malone KE, Coates RJ, et al. Breast enlargement and reduction: Results from a breast cancer case-control study. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 1996;97:269-275.
Bryant H, Brasher P. Breast implants and breast cancer-reanalysis of a linkage study. N Engl J Med. 1995;332:1535-1539.
Deapen DM, Bernstein L, Brody GS. Are breast implants anticarcinogenic? A 14-year follow-up of the Los Angeles study. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 1997;99:1346-1353.
Deapen DM, Brody GS. Augmentation mammaplasty and breast cancer: A 5-year update of the Los Angeles study. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 1992;89:660-665.
Deapen DM, Pike MC, Casagrande JT, Brody GS. The relationship between breast cancer and augmentation mammaplasty: an epidemiologic study. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 1986;77:361-367.
Friis S, McLaughlin JK, Mellemkjaer L, et al. Breast implants and cancer risk in Denmark._ Int J Cancer._ 1997;714:956-958.
Glassner JW, Lee NC, Wingo PA. Does breast augmentation increase the risk of breast cancer? The Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference, April, 1989.
Kern KA, Flannery JT, Kuehn PG. Carcinogenic potential of silicone breast implants: a Connecticuit statewide study. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 1997;100:737-749.
Malone KE, Stanford JL, Daling JR, Voigt LF. Implants and breast cancer. The Lancet. 1992;339:1365.
McLaughlin JK, Nyren O, Blot WJ, et al. Cancer risk among women with cosmetic breast implants: a population-based cohort study in Sweden. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1998;90:156-158.
McLaughlin JK, Fraumeni JF, Nyren O, Adami HO. Silicone breast implants and the risk of cancer? JAMA. 1995;273:116.
McLaughlin JK, Fraumeni JF, Olsen J, Mellemkjaer L. Re: breast implants, cancer, and systemic sclerosis. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1994;86:1424.
Petit JY, Le MG, Mouriesse H, Rietjens M, Gill P, Contesso G, Lehmann A. Can breast reconstruction with gel-filled silicone implants increase the risk of death and second primary cancer in patients treated by mastectomy for breast cancer? Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 1994;94:115-119.