FRESH FEARS have been raised over the safety of hip replacements received by tens of thousands of British people.
Early findings from a study on the effects of “metal-onmetal” devices suggest the implants could increase the risk of cancer and genetic damage.
Research on 72 patients who were given such devices is understood to have detected changes to cells in the bladders of 17 people. Among the 17 were three cases of bladder cancer. The disclosure comes after
The Sunday Telegraph last week revealed that regulators have grave concerns about the safety of more than 30,000 metal-on-metal implants. They are now preparing to issue new guidance on them.
Already, all such patients are supposed to have annual checks, with scans and blood tests if doctors find symptoms that suggest metal leakage. Two devices made by the company Depuy, and received by almost 10,000 patients, were taken off the market in 2010, because of concerns about their failure rates.
One patient who took part in the study, and was found to have abnormal cell changes to the bladder, said he now feared for his long-term health, and was desperate to have his device removed.
David Jose, 51, from Clifton, near Bristol, had a hip “resurfacing” operation in 2007, a year before retiring as a police officer.
Last May he was told that tests had found atypical cells.
He saw Angus Maclean, an orthopaedic surgeon at Southmead Hospital involved in the study, who said that the trial had found three cases of bladder cancer, and 14 more, including Mr Jose, with changes to the chromosomes. Mr Jose said the doctor called the findings “shocking”. Contacted by The Sunday
Telegraph, Mr Maclean said he could not talk about the findings, which he hoped would be presented next month, at the annual British Hip Society conference.
The University of Bristol, which is running the study, said analysis of the data was ongoing, and findings would be reviewed and published.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said there was no evidence of an increased incidence of cancer among those with metal-onmetal devices.