During the past decade, more than 300 cases of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) associated with breast implants, including 9 deaths, have been reported to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with more than half occurring in patients after breast reconstruction for cancer.
1 The exact incidence is unknown due to the lack of standardized criteria for diagnosis; however, it is estimated to be 1 case per 30 000 women with implants per year, with a median time to onset after implantation of 10.7 years.
2,3 A prospective study
4 on Natrelle (Allergan) 410 breast implant risk factor analysis found that 4 patients of 17 656 who received breast implants developed BIA-ALCL, suggesting that the incidence may actually be closer to 1 case per 4000. The association between breast implants and this rare peripheral T-cell lymphoma was first noted in a 1997 article
5 and has been since designated as breast implant–associated ALCL (BIA-ALCL). Almost all known cases have been linked to the use of textured implants.
6