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The hazards of breast implants first became public in 2011, when the French Minister of Health instructed 30,000 women with rough-textured silicone implants to consult their doctors about removing the implants due to a high incidence of silicone leakage. Reports of women developing various types of cancer after silicone leakage from their implants have been accumulating.
The PIP silicone implants, suspected to be the cause, were produced with a gel that lead to a high rate of ruptures. An estimated millions of women worldwide, and nearly a thousand women in Israel, have received these implants.
Following the case’s exposure, the Health Ministry instructed women with these implants to remove them after laboratory tests revealed the presence of harmful chemicals. The PIP implants were found to have an eight-fold higher risk of rupture, and the leaking silicone caused severe pain, swelling, and in some cases, prompted the formation of tumor-like growths. Concerns were also raised about increased cancer risk due to silicone leakage.
In 2019, a link between these implants and lymphoma cancer was revealed. The British newspaper “The Guardian” reported hundreds of severe side effects in women who underwent breast augmentation, including autoimmune diseases and rare cancer cases. It was further revealed that the implants contained industrial silicone similar to the PIP type, which was banned in France due to its link to cancer cases.
The FDA has now banned these rough-textured silicone implants, a decision that the Israeli Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons fully supports. The association has urged Israeli women with these implants, as well as those with other types of implants, to perform regular breast examinations and to consult a plastic surgeon if 10 years have passed since the implants were inserted.
Each year in Israel, approximately 8,000 women undergo breast augmentation procedures. Of these, 60% opt for a rough-textured implant. The association suggests that women should consult a doctor if they experience any sudden changes in breast shape, new localized pain, difficulty breathing, fatigue, or unintended weight loss.
