Myrl Jeffcoat myrlj@jps.net

22 mars, 2005 10:27

Foam Implants Pose Cancer Risk

Cigarette smoke, asbestos, radium, cyclamates, chromium, nickel, hardwood dusts—these are just a few of the many substances that at one time were thought harmless and have turned out to be contributors to cancer development. Today, these materials are known to take from 14 to 40 years to trigger cancer in humans. Polyurethane foam-covered implants may also join this lineup in the future.

Foam-coated implants were originally designed to help prevent the natural scar tissue around implants from developing into capsular contracture. Studies later showed that the outer layer of foam could break down in the body. A by-product of this breakdown is 2-toluene diamine (TDA), a substance that has been banned in hair dyes and other products because it causes liver cancer in animals.

The late William J. Pangman, a prominent plastic surgeon who developed the foam used as a filler and coating for these implants, claimed that the foam shouldn’t break down in the human body. Yet no one seems to have a record of exactly what kind of foam he used. Today, an estimated 10 percent of women who have silicone-gel implants have foam-coated prosthesis. They were taken off the market in February 1991.

Additionally, while there is no documented association between silicone and cancer, studies to date have been inadequate. (The FDA has advised women with these implants, however, not to have them removed because the risk of cancer, if any, is presently deemed to be low.) Research is ongoing. Page 36 – retyped from “The Silicone Breast Implant Controversy” by Frank Vasey, MD, and Josh Feldstein