The New York Times, April 5 , 2019 published an article that “France is First to Ban Breast Implants Linked to Rare Cancer.” It is thought Canada and the Netherlands are soon to follow.
This is real.
What you should know:
- Textured implants are the most common type of implant used in Europe.
- The United States is the opposite– 90% of the implants placed here are smooth walled implants. (I have a very rare patient who gets textured- Style 410)
- The cancer has only been found in textured implants. SEE MY BLOGS ON ALCL HERE.
- Since 2011, 59 cases have been recorded in France, according to the ANSM. (There have only been 130 cases of ALCL ever recorded so far, so for some reason France seems to be an epicenter.)
- France will be attuned to this, as there was a maker of silicone gel implants “PIP” centered in France. PIP had highly texturized implants, and the company folded because of “defective implants” and issues with their gel. (To read about PIP implants, click HERE.)
- Allergan decided to pull its textured implants from the European market for now.
See the NYT article HERE.
If you can read French, and want to see the original article, click HERE
What do I think?
Read my prior blog on ALCL here. I went in depth into the issues. For American women, by far the most popular implant used in the United States is a smooth walled implant. The ALCL has been found with textured implants only and is super rare. Every plastic surgeon is different, but in my practice I use textured implants maybe once or twice a year, in very specific patients for very specific reasons. And again, the incidence of ALCL is super low, with 130 reported cases and 550,000 implants going in each year.