Journal of Long-Term Effects of Medical Implants

ISSN for PRINT: 1050-6934

For Online Access

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2002, Volume12

Issue 4

106 pages

Issue price - $175.00

Eero Pukkala, PhD
Finnish Cancer Registry, Institute for Statistical and Epidemiological Cancer Research, Helsinki

John D. Boice, Jr., ScD
International Epidemiology Institute, Rockville, Maryland; and Department of Medicine and Vanderbilt—Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Sirpa-Liisa Hovi, LicNSci
National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES), Helsinki

Elina Hemminki, MD
National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES), Helsinki

Sirpa Asko-Seljavaara, MD
Helsinki University Central Hospital, Department of Plastic Surgery

Ilmo Keskimaki, MD
National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES), Helsinki

Joseph K. McLaughlin, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine, Vanderbilt Medical School, President, International Epidemiology Institute, 1455 Research Blvd., Suite 550, Rockville, Maryland, 20850-3127, USA

Matti Pakkanen, MD
Hospital Siluetti, Suomen Kirurgipalvelu Oy; and Clinic of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery, Helsinki, Finland

Lyly Teppo, MD
Finnish Cancer Registry, Institute for Statistical and Epidemiological Cancer Research, Helsinki, Finland

Epidemiologic evidence does not point to a carcinogenic effect of silicone implants on the breast, and evidence for or against a carcinogenic effect at sites other than the breast is limited. To examine subsequent cancer risk among women with cosmetic breast implants, we conducted a cohort study of 2171 women in Finland identified from operation diaries of major hospitals and private clinics, 1970–1999. B e nationwide population and health outcome registries in Finland were used to trace these women for cancer incidence through 1999. Standard statistical techniques were used to compute expected values based on general population rates. B e measure of risk was taken as the ratio of observed to expected cancers, that is, the standardized incidence ratio (SIR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI). Among the 2171 women with cosmetic breast implants, 30 developed cancer against 33.7 expected (SIR = 0.9, 95% CI = 0.6–1.3). There was no evidence for an increase in breast cancer risk (SIR 0.5, 95% CI, 0.2–1.0), even among those followed for more than 10 years (2 observed, 4.6 expected). Stage at breast cancer diagnosis did not differ from that expected nor did incidence of any other cancer. Although hindered by small numbers, the consistency of our results with those of other Nordic studies leads us to conclude that cosmetic breast implants are not a cause of cancer and that they do not appear to delay the detection of breast cancers.

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