Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women in the western world and a major cause of premature death. Consequently, breast implants are widely used for breast reconstruction. Despite this, the prevalence of implant complications is low. Given widespread use of breast implants, there is an increased awareness of the risk for developing a breast implant associated- anaplastic large cell Lymphoma (BI-ALCL) although rare. Clinical presentation is variable and may include a palpable mass in the breast or axilla, generalized breast pain, or breast firmness. The estimated incidence of BI-ALCL is <3 per 1 million person years, approximately 0.1-0.3 per 100 000 women with prostheses per year. Since the publication by Keech and Creech in 1997, which reported the first case of BI-ALCL, an increasing number of BI-ALCL have appeared, in patients with both aesthetic and reconstructive indications. In this paper, we describe a patient who was diagnosed with invasive BIA-ALCL seventeen years after placement of silicone breast implants and was treated with only surgery.
Keywords: BI-ALCL; Silicone implants; breast cancer.
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