Breast Implants Linked to Rare Cancer Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma

WASHINGTON (CBS/AP) Women with breast implants may have something other than plunging necklines to worry about.

According to federal health officials, there may be a link between implants and an extremely rare form of cancer called anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

Of the 5 to 10 million women with breast implants, there are only 60 known cases worldwide. So women shouldn't panic.

Most of the cases were reported after patients sought medical care for pain, lumps, swelling and other problems around the surgical site.

The lymphoma is an aggressive form of cancer, and patients' survival varies widely between different varieties of the disease. Chemotherapy is usually the first line of treatment and patients who have complete remission have gone on to live long, healthy lives. Patients who relapse are usually treated with a bone marrow transplant and have a much lower rate of survival.

That's the bad news. The good news is the chance of having this form of cancer is very slight, implants or no.