On the pulse
Happy New Year!
We hope you have all had a restful Christmas. The Cancerkin Centre is open again and is now preparing itself for a busy 2012 full of landmark events – the Diamond Jubilee, the London Olympics and, of course, Cancerkin’s 25th Anniversary. We are proud to celebrate 25 years of providing support and care to women with breast cancer and have planned a year of festivities to mark the occasion.
Annual Lecture on Tuesday 27th March 2012
We will begin our series of celebratory events with Cancerkin’s second Annual Lecture on Tuesday 27th March. We are thrilled to be welcoming Professor Jonathan Waxman, MD FRCP Professor of Oncology and Consultant Physician at Imperial College London, to give the lecture. Professor Waxman is a clinician who has helped develop new treatments for cancer that are now part of standard practice. He has published a huge number of research papers, chapters and books on cancer, as well as a novel and a law book. He is also a prominent campaigner and fundraiser for work into cancer research and care. We very much look forward to hearing his lecture, more details on which will follow soon.
Hyde Park Walk on Sunday 17th June 2012
Continuing in our series of celebrations, our biggest and best Hyde Park Walk yet will take place on Sunday 17th June. As always, we will be taking in the delights of the beautiful Hyde Park on a 10k route twice around the Serpentine Lake. We plan to make this an extra special event for our walkers – more to be revealed later!
We have more planned for later in the year and we will keep you posted on this. We hope you will be able to join us at some (or all!) of our upcoming events, so that we can celebrate this special year together. We are looking forward to seeing you all there. For more information on any of our events, please contact l.smith@cancerkin.org.uk or call 0207 830 2323.
In the News.....
Breast implants controversy: A summary
As I am sure you will all be aware, there is currently much controversy surrounding the use of substandard silicone breast implants in women who have had breast augmentation or who have had reconstructive surgery after breast cancer treatment. More than 40,000 women in the UK have been given implants produced by the now defunct French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) which were filled with industrial grade silicone that is not intended for medical use. Many women are now anxious about the implications their implants may have for their health and whilst the government is not currently recommending the routine removal of the implants, it launched an investigation this Wednesday, 4th January so that it can fully understand the risks posed by the implants. The results of the investigation are expected today, 6th January.
The controversy began in 2010 when implant manufacturer PIP was found to be cutting costs by filling its devices with industrial silicone and was subsequently closed down. However, by that time, the implants had been supplied to 65 countries worldwide and had been used in somewhere between 300,000 and 400,000 operations. Amid fears that the implants were at an increased risk of rupturing and leaking, the French government announced in December 2011 that it would be funding the routine removal of all PIP implants fitted in women in France, estimated at around 30,000. No other country that has used the implants has followed suit yet. Speaking straight after the announcement, Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England said:"We have no evidence of a link to cancer or an increased risk of rupture. While we respect the French decision, no other country is taking similar steps. Because of this, and because removing these implants carries risk in itself, we are not advising routine removal."
Official advice since this time has been for any woman concerned about their implants to contact her GP or the implanting surgeon. The government working group leading the investigation is in the process of collecting data on rupture rates of the PIP implants from both NHS and private clinics, which has in itself uncovered problems with quality of data supplied by the private sector and the possible need for a register of breast implants. It is hoped that the results of the investigation will help to reassure women about the government’s advice.
To read in more detail about the government investigation and the background of the controversy, you might like to read The Guardian and The Telegraph's take on the topic, or you can visit the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency’s website for more information. Writing in a blog in the Guardian, journalist Rebecca Smithers gives her point of view here as a woman who has had reconstruction after breast cancer.
Laura Smith
No comments:
Post a Comment