Aussie Women with Breast Implants Urged to Consult Surgeons, Register
Women with breast implants should consult their surgeons and sign up to a national register in case they are worried about suffering complications as serious as cancer, according to the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons.
There has been a high rupture rate for one implant called a Poly Implant Prosthese, or PIP, which has been recalled worldwide after overseas health authorities found some contained industrial silicone instead of medical silicone, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Meanwhile, the French government is reportedly considering an order for the PIP implants to be removed from about 30,000 French women amid fears that these implants could increase cancer cases in the country.
British doctors have also said people should have PIP removed for ''peace of mind.''
But the Aussie society said it did not believe there was a need for the estimated 4500 Australian women with the same implants to panic and have their implants removed.
Society spokesman Graham Sellars said if women were concerned about their implants, they should talk to their surgeon or GP and add their details to a national breast implant register.
The US Food and Drug Administration had earlier said it did not believe the risk was high enough to recommend implant removals as a protective measure.
Doctors have yet to verify the reported link between all implants and a rare form of cancer called anaplastic large cell lymphoma or ALCL, which is estimated to affect about one in 500,000 women each year.
Dr. Sellars said about 80 cases of the cancer in women with implants had been reported worldwide, including seven in Australia.
But a spokeswoman for Australia's medical watchdog, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, said there had been no cases of ALCL in women with the PIP implants in Australia.
Kathryn Booth, head of medical negligence at law firm Maurice Blackburn, said if a woman believed she had suffered an injury or disease from breast implants, a legal case may be filed against the manufacturer.