Implants linked to new sub-type of lymphoma

Silicon-coated breast implants could be responsible for a new subtype of a rare but malignant lymphoma suggests research from Vienna. Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma normally found in the lymph nodes but also the skin, lung, liver and soft tissue. The cancer doesn’t usually manifest itself in the breast, but there have been 71 documented cases worldwide of patients with the disease in which researchers suspect breast implants to be the cause. ALCL is divided into two subtypes – one which produces an abnormal form of the protein ALK (anaplastic lymphoma kinase), and one which does not and is more aggressive. This implant-related ALCL appears to form a third previously unknown subtype where the cells do not express ALK. “This is a previously unrecognised, new subtype of ALCL,” said pathologist Lukas Kenner, from the Medical University Vienna. “We must now determine the exact causes behind its occurrence.” Kenner and his colleagues reviewed the documented cases in which ALCL in breast tissue occurred almost exclusively involved women who had undergone breast surgery, concluding the implant causes an abnormal immune response from the body In a paper published in Mutation Research, the researchers write the cases are: “suggestive of the mechanism of tumorigenesis which is discussed in relation to chronic information, immunogenicity of the implants and sub-clinical infection”. Kenner and his team are now preparing for further studies into which implants and dentures will be examined in other parts of the body. Cases of ALCL in those with breast implants are very low, ranging from 1:500,000 to 1:3,000,000 patients each year. ALCL developed a decade post-operation, with tumours growing in scar tissue around the implant. While some patients required chemotherapy or radiation treatment to treat the disease, removal of the implant and surrounding tissue caused the lymphoma to subside in many cases. Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) and breast implants; Breaking down the evidence