9 US DEATHS LINKED TO BREAST IMPLANT-ASSOCIATED CANCER

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Nine women are believed to have died in the United States from a rare cancer linked to breast implants, US health officials said Tuesday ( Wednesday in Manila), with more than 350 cases of the disease recorded nationwide. A possible association between breast implants and anaplastic large- cell lymphoma (ALCL) was first identified in 2011 but at the time few cases had been recorded. Now the US Food and Drug Administration says it has received 359 reports of ALCL linked to implants, including nine fatalities. The health agency said it concurred with the World Health Organization, which has designated breastimplant associated ALCL “as a rare T- cell lymphoma that can develop following breast implants.”