The age-adjusted incidence of breast anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) is increasing in the United States, according to research published in JAMA Oncology.
This increase may be a result of the growing use of textured breast implants, greater recognition of breast ALCL, and/or an increase in the incidence of all breast lymphomas, according to researchers.
For this study, the researchers analyzed data on women with pathologically confirmed primary breast ALCL diagnosed from January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2018. Data were derived from the SEER-18 database.
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From 2000 through 2018, the age-adjusted incidence rate of breast ALCL was 8.1 per 100 million persons per year. The cumulative lifetime risk was 7.5 per million persons at 79 years of age.
The age-adjusted incidence rate of breast ALCL (per 100 million persons per year) increased from 3.2 in 2000-2005 to 4.4 in 2006-2011 and to 14.5 in 2012-2018 (P <.001).
When the researchers included T-cell lymphoma not otherwise specified in their analysis, they observed a similar increase. The incidence rate was 19.6 per 100 million persons per year in 2012-2018.
The researchers noted that the incidence rates of breast ALCL observed in this study are higher than a previous estimate from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which was 3 cases per 100 million persons, based on SEER data from 2001 to 2007.
However, the incidence rates in the current study are consistent with data from the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand, the researchers added.
“Given the strong association between textured implants and breast ALCL, the rising incidence may be associated with both the increasing prevalence of textured implants in the US and increased recognition of the disease but may also reflect an increase in the incidence of all breast lymphomas,” the researchers wrote.
“These trends are concerning, as the use of textured implants increased more than 5-fold from 2.3% to 13.0% of augmentation procedures between 2011 and 2015, despite a safety communication from the FDA in 2011. An estimated 3% to 5% of adult women in the US have breast implants.”
The researchers added that these updated risk estimates “support continued surveillance of breast ALCL by government and regulatory agencies.”
Disclosures: Some study authors declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or device companies. Please see the original reference for a full list of disclosures.
Reference
Kinslow CJ, Kim, A, Sanchez GI, et al. Incidence of anaplastic large-cell lymphoma of the breast in the US, 2000 to 2018. JAMA Oncol. Published online July 21, 2022. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2022.2624
