UK plays down breast implant fear

20 December 2011 Last updated at 22:14 ET

It is thought that up to 40,000 British women have had the PIP breast implant

Women with silicone breast implants made by a French company should not have them removed, UK officials say.

French authorities will decide shortly whether women should have implants supplied by Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) removed, amid fears of health risks.

But the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency says none of the available evidence into possible links with cancer supports removal.

It is thought up to 40,000 British women have the PIP silicone implants.

In a statement, the agency said: "The MHRA has reviewed available evidence for association of cancers for women with breast implants in consultation with the relevant UK professional bodies for breast surgery and surgical oncology and has concluded that there is insufficient evidence to indicate any association with cancer.

"Additionally, the MHRA worked with the cancer registry and could find no evidence for any association.

"The MHRA's current advice to women with any type of breast implant continues to be that women who are concerned about their breasts or think that their implants may have ruptured, should seek clinical advice from their implanting surgeon."

Surgeon contact

A statement from the British Association for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) said: "BAPRAS has not yet seen the evidence demonstrating that health problems may have been caused by PIP breast implants and will fully assess any that becomes available.

"We currently believe that the expected announcement from French medical authorities will be a precautionary measure.

"Surgeons will be in contact with any patient who has received this type of implant if any action is required."

Douglas McGeorge, consultant plastic surgeon and former president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) said patients with breast implants should check whether they have one from PIP.

"The message here is not to panic," he said.

"The advice is unchanged. Women with PIP implants should be checked by the clinic where they had their surgery and can then be monitored afterwards.

"These implants have a higher failure rate so there will be women who might choose to have their implants removed before that happens, whereas others will be happy to be monitored."

French investigation

According to BAAPS, non-medical grade silicone believed to be made for mattresses was used by PIP.

This meant the low-cost devices were more likely to split - 10% of them did so within the first year - when, on average, implants should last 10 years.

More than 300,000 implants are believed to have been sold globally by PIP over the last 12 years.

French authorities say they will decide this week whether to ask the women given that type of breast implant to have them removed.

The French government has formed a special committee to look at the issue.

PIP went into administration last year and the use of its implants was banned.

Since the defects were discovered, 523 implants have been removed, according to France's Le Monde newspaper.

Eight cases of cancer had so far been reported in patients with PIP implants, France's Director General for Health, Jean-Yves Grall, told the Liberation newspaper. A ninth patient in Gers died of cancer last year.

But the head of France's National Cancer Institute, Dominique Maraninchi, said last week the cases were not necessarily linked to faulty implants.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/health-16280458

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