Repost : Harvard's Latest Finding...Yet Another Dow Red Herring

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> [MMA] No Link Seen Between

Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2001 14:14:08 -0800

Multiple Myeloma Association (MMA) -

http://www.webspawner.com/users/myelomaexchange/

No Link Seen Between MGUS and Breast Implants >

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BOSTON--The purported association between breast

implants and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined

significance seems to be fading. A Harvard team

reported that the rate of MGUS was comparable among

288 women who'd had or still had breast implants and

288 women who'd never had implants-five vs. four

patients.

It was the sixth study, though the first cohort study

using stored blood samples instead of medical records,

to find no association. In contrast, three case series

and the National Cancer Institute's registry, all

reported in 1996, reported an association. The nine

with MGUS came from the 32,826 women in the

prospective Nurses' Health Study who provided 30 ml of

blood in 1988 for future research. None of the nine

had developed multiple myeloma or other hematologic

disease by 1996, reported rheumatologist W.

Karlson of Brigham and Women's and olleagues in the

March 26 Archives of Internal Medicine. Eventually 24%

of women with MGUS develop multiple myeloma,

macroglobulinemia, amyloidosis, or related diseases.

Among the five women with implants who developed MGUS,

three had devices filled with silicone gel, though a

separate analysis showed no significant association

between this kind of device and MGUS. One woman had a

saline implant and the other was unknown. The five

women averaged eight years older than the four in the

control group with MGUS. The investigstors said this

indicated that implants do not cause MGUS at a younger

than expected age. Other reports found multiple

myeloma developing at unusually young ages among women

with silicone breast implants.