Breast Augmentation Affects Diagnosis Not Survival of Cancer

May 25
08:16

2011

Aloysius Aucoin

Aloysius Aucoin

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A recent study found there is no significant difference in the survival rate between women with and without breast augmentation. It did find that they were less likely to be diagnosed early, however.

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For years there has been growing concern about the safety of various plastic surgery techniques. There have been questions about the long-term risks of repeated Botox exposure. People have wondered whether there were dangers in having liposuction or chemical peels. More than anything though there have been concerns about the cancer risks posed by implants. Fortunately a recent study found that breast augmentation does not increase the risk of cancer or the prognosis for survival but does affect diagnosis.

The study found that mammograms of women who had had breast augmentation were less accurate and less effective in detecting tumors. It also showed that because of this difficulty in diagnosis there were larger tumors and more women whose cancer had spread to their lymph nodes. Fortunately,Breast Augmentation Affects Diagnosis Not Survival of Cancer Articles there was no significant difference in the survival rate of women with and without implants. 

The doctors admit that the sample they used was statistically fairly small so it is possible that the survival rate data was skewed. 

Generally women whose lymph nodes have been infected face a poorer prognosis for survival because of the ability for the cells of the tumor to circulate through the body and possibly spread to other tissues and organs. 

The good news is that the doctors who performed the study did not find differences in tumor size, recurrence rate or survival rate between women with and without breast augmentation. This comes as a great relief to people who were worried that their choice to improve their appearance was going to have a negative effect on their health. 

This news comes at a great time as breast augmentation is increasing every year. It is no longer just people having this done later in life. Ladies are doing it in their twenties and thirties and there are also girls receiving breast augmentation as high school graduation gifts. Society has accepted cosmetic surgery much more than in years past. The stigma is gone from having it done and the taboo is gone from talking about it. People are proud of how great they can look after having a procedure and they can’t wait to talk about it. 

Some doctors recommend caution. They say that the small sample size of this study and the fact that any cancer is more dangerous the more it has progressed means that the results should not be taken as the final word. This study is just preliminary and may indicate that there is less concern of worse prognoses after surgery but that does not mean that the risks are nil.