Rare Cancer Linked to Breast Implants

When Stacey Boone, of Bradenton, was diagnosed with cancer in 2015 she never suspected it was because of her breast implants.

But it turned out Stacey had breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma or BIA-ALCL, a rare type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma that affects cells in the immune system found around the breast implant.

“I had my breast implants done in the early 90s and was never told I needed to go back and have them checked every so many years,” she told Good Morning America.

Stacey is not alone. In the last six years, there have been 359 other possible implant-related cancer reports, according to the FDA.

“There may be something about the texture of the implant inducing some inflammation causing the cancer, but currently it’s not well understood why it happens,” says Dr. Frederick Locke of Moffitt Cancer Center.

Although a woman’s chance of getting diagnosed with ALCL is low - estimated to be 1 in 30,000 – it is something to be mindful of if you have implants.

After four six-week rounds of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant at Moffitt, Stacey has been in remission for almost two years.

Watch the video from Good Morning America.