Epidemiologic follow-up studies of breast augmentation patients.
Although hundreds of thousands of women in this country have had augmentation mammaplasty, little is known about long-term effects. Clinical studies have documented a decreased ability to detect breast lesions in women with implants, leading to concerns regarding breast cancer risk. There is also anecdotal evidence that implants might have effects on a variety of immune conditions. More recently, concern over carcinogenic effects has heightened given findings that the polyurethane foam, used in a minority of implants to envelope silicone gel, contains chemicals linked to cancer in laboratory animals. Only a few epidemiologic studies on long-term effects have been published, and all have had methodologic limitations, including the possibility of inappropriate comparison rates, limited and/or incomplete follow-up, absence of information on patients characteristics, and lack of specific information on types of implanted material. Several case-control and cohort studies are currently underway which are attempting to overcome methodologic limitations of previous studies. Past descriptive and analytic studies are reviewed. In addition, ongoing follow-up efforts are discussed, with attention given to the methodologic adjuncts necessary for allowing valid assessments of long-term disease effects.
Brinton
L A
LA
Environmental Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Toniolo
P
P
Pasternack
B S
BS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018427:Breast Implants / Q000009:adverse effects; D002170:Canada; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016462:Mammaplasty; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012828:Silicones / Q000009:adverse effects; D014481:United States
D012828:Silicones