BISA Supports Patient Advocates at the 4th World Consensus Conference on BIA-ALCL

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The 4th World Consensus Conference on BIA-ALCL and the 8th International Breast Surgery Workshop took place on September 30 - October 1, 2022 in Austin, Texas. For those that are not familiar, BIA-ALCL stands for Breast Implant-Associated Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma. BIA-ALCL is not breast cancer, but a cancer of the immune system and has been linked to patients with a history of textured breast implants. Due to this potential cancer, some breast implants have been recalled. However, many patients still have these breast implants today.

BISA has been collaborating with the BIA-ALCL Patient Advocates for several years, and BISA’s President Maria Gmitro worked closely with the advocates for several months preparing for this particular conference. It was a great opportunity to meet advocates and leaders to collaborate for better patient safety.

It is great to see patient representation at conferences like this because patients, the ultimate stakeholder, have a great deal of value to add to this emerging cancer. The patient advocates that presented this year were Jennifer Cook (USA), Terri McGregor (Canada), and Sajósi Krisztina Éva (Hungary). BISA is so proud of these strong women. They are survivors of cancer caused by breast implants that they were not warned about, and they continue to help others and advocate for positive change.

Our team is still working on analyzing the information presented and will be posting a follow-up statement along with a sign-up for a free webinar about these BIA-ALCL updates. Currently, we still have more questions than answers.

In the meantime, here are some helpful resources. If you have any additional questions, you can reach out to BIA-ALCL Diagnosed Patient and Expert Advocate, Jennifer Cook at jennfer.cook@bisanonprofit.org or info@biaalcl.com.