FDA alerts more doctors about rare cancer with breast implants – News – Woodford Times – Peoria, IL

WASHINGTON, D.C. – According to US health authorities, doctors should be looking for a rare cancer related to bad implants after receiving more reports of the disease.

The Food and Drug Administration sent a letter Wednesday night to family doctors, nurses and other health professionals to warn them of the form of lymphoma in patients with bad implants. In suspected cases, the FDA recommends laboratory tests to confirm or deny the disease. This is the first time regulators have issued such a warning to doctors other than plastic surgeons.

The disease is not bad cancer, but usually forms in the scar tissue that forms around the implants.

Regulators have reported identifying 450 probable cases of cancer since 2010. This is a tiny number, as 400,000 American women receive implants each year.