Earlier research has shown that women who had breast implants are more likely to develop a rare type of cancer called anaplastic large cell lymphoma.
Now, a new case report revealed the case of a woman who developed the deadly disease following a buttocks implant.
Buttock Implants
Buttock implants are silicone-filled devices surgically placed to improve the shape and size of the buttocks. Several options are available, including smooth implants, textured implants, and fat grafting
Figures from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery showed there were more than 36,000 buttock implants procedures performed globally in 2017.
Surgeons at the University of Southern California now report the first case of ALCL that has been tied to buttock implants.
Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma
Joseph Carey, assistant professor of clinical surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and colleagues linked a 49-year-old woman's buttocks implants to ACLC.
ALCL is an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a white blood cell cancer that usually affects older adults and tends to occur more often in men than in women.
In recent years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has identified more than 450 cases of cancer linked to breast implants. The FDA said that most of the cases occurred among women with textured breast implants.
In the report published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal on Feb. 15, the gluteal textured implant is being tied to this condition.
Gluteal Implant-Associated ALCL
The patient in the case report had gluteal textured implants about a year before she was diagnosed with cancer. Doctors found she had an ulceration on the skin around her implants. Imaging tests also showed fluids around the implants.
Cancer eventually spread to other organs of the woman's body and she eventually died despite aggressive chemotherapy.
"Her condition deteriorated before explanation could be performed. Biopsy of a left lung mass demonstrated "hallmark" cells of ALCL ("horseshoe"-shaped nuclei). The diagnosis was verified by immunohistochemical testing that revealed expression of CD30, CD4, CD43, BCL6, Perforin, and Ki67 in a population of abnormal cells," Carey and colleagues reported.
The authors said the case report aims to demonstrate that individuals who undergo implantation of textured silicone implants are at risk of developing ALCL. The report also provides evidence for possible new diagnoses of gluteal implant-associated ALCL.
