Breast augmentation remains one of the most popular aesthetic surgical procedures. But a recently described form of cancer called breast implant associated ALCL is creating concern. Through the years, silicone breast implants have been linked to all sorts of conditions, without a shred of evidence. This lead to the FDA banning silicone filled implants in the United States for over a decade. It has since been proven through very long follow-up studies that silicone implants are absolutely, irrefutably SAFE. There are however recent reports in the media that have made an association between breast implants and a very rare form of cancer. SO, WHAT IS GOING ON, AND DO YOU NEED TO BE WORRIED? Well, lets talk facts. The cancer that we are talking about is an exceedingly rare form of primary breast lymphoma called breast implant associated ALCL (anaplastic large cell lymphoma). ALCL is a relatively recently described condition. ALCL was first reported in the late 90s, although it really first came to light only 8 years ago after a Dutch study published an account of a number of cases of women presenting with an unusual condition some years after breast implants had been placed. Between 2008 when that study was … Continue reading Are breast implants really associated with cancer?