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| A company- funded study reassures
women with silicone breast implants that they won't get breast cancer
from the surgery.(file photo) |
BEIJING,
April 19 (Xinhuanet) -- A new study by Swedish researchers has
found no evidence relating to increased risk for women who have
undergone breast enlargement surgery.
The findings appear in the April 19 issue of the
Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
The study said that said smoking habits, weight and
giving birth had a greater impact. Excess weight, childlessness and older age at
first birth all raise the risk of breast cancer, not necessarily the silicone
implants.
The research team, led by Joseph McLaughlin,
president of the International Epidemiology Institute in Rockville, Md.,
analysed government data from 3,486 Swedish women who first received implants
for cosmetic reasons between 1965 and 1993. On average, women were followed for
about 18.4 years.
The research found women with the devices had an
increased risk of lung cancer and a decreased rate of breast cancer compared
with the general population, but neither result could be linked to the
implants.
"Women with silicone breast implants should feel
reassured," McLaughlin conluded.
The safety of silicone breast implants has long been
a subject for debate. The United States banned silicone breast implants in
1992 for cosmetic purposes amid concerns that silicone leakage could cause a
variety of diseases, ranging from immune system disorders, arthritis, lupus
to cancer.
Dow Corning Corporation, once the world's largest maker of
silicone gel breast implants, funded the study.
In 1999, the company filed for bankruptcy and spent $3.2
billion (1.8 billion pounds) to settle lawsuits from thousands of patients who
alleged silicone implants made them sick.
One expert questioned the connection.
"They have this financial vested interest, which we all
know can influence things," said Diana Zuckerman, president of the National
Research Center for Women and Families. "They're trying to put this to rest and
say, 'See we knew it, this product is perfectly safe.'"
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been moving
toward allowing silicone implants back on the market as an alternative to saline
implants, which doctors say aren't always ideal. Some U.S. politicians and
women's groups have expressed dismay that the government might allow use of
silicone implants again. Enditem
(Agencies)
