Cosmopolitan; New York; Apr 1997; Sally Ogle Davis;

Volume: 222

Issue: 4

Start Page: 140-142

ISSN: 00109541

Subject Terms: Soybeans

Breast implants

Medical research

A medical study began two years ago for the soy-filled Trilucent breast implant. These new implants, which are shaping up to be safer than traditional silicone implants, are filled with soybean oil.

If you're considering breast augmentation, you may soon have another-and safe- alternative.

Jan Thompson* has a beautiful home in the Los Angeles suburbs, a loving husband, two great kids, and a secret: She is one of the very few women in the country with breast implants filled with soybean oil. "I got them a year ago," says the housewife. "They look great and feel great. I'm very fortunate. They're the answer to all my prayers."

Jan is participant in a medical study of the soy-filled Trilucent implant that began two years ago at five medical centers across the country. So far, the Trilucent has been placed in the breasts of 50 women, all of whom had previously had saline or silicone implants. Another 450 women who have never had breast augmentation will get the implants soon. Their revolutionary new breasts could change forever the way women look at a tiny vegetable that until now has interested only farmers, Japanese restaurateurs, and traders of agricultural futures.

At first, Jan was delighted with the silicone-implant surgery she'd treated herself to for her fortieth birthday. "I had my children at 19 and 23 ane felt I never got to enjoy having really nice breasts before they started drooping," she says. "My naturally full breasts were great for implants because there was lots of skin."

But within a few years, her body had mounted an assault against the foreign substance. Scar tissue had formed-a common problem in silicone-implant recipients-leaving her breasts unnaturally round, hard, and painful. Jan also has fibrocystic breasts. "So between the scar tissue and the normal pain, it got to the point where I didn't even like hugging."

Then, a routine mammogram revealed that her implants were leaking silicone into her body. Luckily, her checkup was being done at The Breast Center in Van Nuys, California, one of five facilities approved by the Food and Drug Administration to conduct studies of the Trilucent implant. (The others are at Stanford University School of Medicine, in Palo Alto, California; University of California at Davis; Johns Hopkins, in Maryland; and Washington University in Saint Louis.) She was accepted into the test group, and her new soy breasts are the result. "They feel every bit as good as my silicone implants did before they began to harden," she says. "And my husband thinks they look bery natural."

Doctors have heen particularly cautious in testing the new imiplant-even inserting a microchip the size of a grain of rice in each recipient to monitor safety (the chip enables doctors to trace the implant to a specific manufacturing batch if anything goes wrong)-because of the controversy surrounding its silicone predecessor. Alhough at least 15 medical studies have shown no evidence that silicone implants cause autoimmune diseases, the FDA has virtually banned further sales of the product. Today, most plastic surgeons have switched to saline-a safe alternative but one that's less aesthetically pleasing, primarily because it lacks the densit), of silicone gel. The saline tends to fall to the bottom of the implant, causing visible rippling in the breast.

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Treasure chest: Women with the new soy breasts call them a godsend. Soybean oil is a triglyceride-a natural fat that can be absorbed by the body and metabolized by the liver if the implant breaks or leaks. It's 40 times thicker than saline and thus retains a better shape with less wrinkling. Perhaps best of all: Unlike saline and silicone implants, the Trilucent does not obscure natural breast tissue on amnograms. "On simulated mammograms," says Leroy Young, M.D., head of the soy-implant research team at Washington University, "we were able to see 98 percent of soft tissue masses and 96 percent of calcifications."

That's good news for women with a family history of breast cancer. Ate Morrison, an executive secretary in San Francisco, always believed breast augmentation was out of the question for her. "My 37-year-old sister found cancer on her baseline mammogram and had a mastectomy," she says. "I'm five feet six and, Since I was13, have worn a 32AA bra. I've always wanted implants. But with my family history, I knew I'd always have to have frequent mammograms When I heard about the Trilucent, I knew there was finally another option."

Ineligible for the initial American study because she had never previously had implants, Kate got her new breasts in Europe, where the soy implant has been commercially available for over two years. And two years later, she couldn't be more delighted with the results

"They look absolutely natural," she says. "I wasn't looking to be like Dolly Parton, I just wanted to be in balance with my own body. Today I'm a 34C. My husband finds they feel very natural too. He didn't marry me for my breasts, but I can tell you he certainly likes them now."

Not every woman is entirely pleased with the results, however. After replacing her silicone implants with the Trilucent model, Irene Fisher, an athletic San Francisco housewife, was initially pleased. But recently; Irene says, she feels something like ripples in one of her breasts. "I can sense something in them when I move. I just don't like the feeling." Gail Lebovic., a general surgeon specializing in breast surgery who was a member of Irene's surgical team at Stanford, says that the weight of any type of implant in slim women women with very little natural breast tissue, like Irene, creates the ripple sensation. The problem can be easily solved, she says, by filling the empty space with more soy.

In fact, says Van Nuys Breast Center plastic surgeon Neal Handel, Irene's problem is typical of any implant. "Women with a thin layer of tissue or women heavily involved with aerobics who have lost their breast tissue won't have as good results," he says. "The more breast tissue you have, the better the result no matter what implant you get."

Of course, some plastic surgeons are skeptical about Trilucent's likelihood of receiving final approval from the FDA. Questions still remain about possible bacterial infections, the body's ability to absorb a large quantity of soy if the implant leaks, and unknown ways in which the substance may affect the body.

After medical (questions have been resolved, the look and feel of the new implant will ultimately determine its success-and on those measures, Trilucent seems a winner. The most promising news is that, after two years of testing in America and five in Europe, physicians have found that the degree of hardening in soy implants is much less than in silicone implants. "I feel a lot of breasts in my business," says Dr. Lehovic. "They definitely feel firmer than saline. They feel a little floppier and less solid than silicone, but after all, real breasts feel pretty floppy. If anything, they're a little more pendulous and therefore more natural than silicone. Our patients are delighted with them."

Others undoubtedly will be too when they can get them. The Collagen Corporation, manufacturers of the Trilucent implant, had to set up a dedicated number (800-624-2352) to carry the volume of inquiries about its new product.

It looks like a very good time to invest in soy futures.

Soy Equals Joy

Word is out Women want soy.

Soy Rave tit: "They're a godsend. I've had several mammograms since getting them, and you can see everything."

-Kate Morrison

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Silicone implants are firmer than others but obscure breast tissue in mammograms.

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Soy implants have a more natural shape and -importantly-allow X-rays to pass through. Soy Rave #2: "I feel like my prayers have been answered. They've made me totally happy." -Jan Thompson

Soy Rave #3: "I'm still waiting to get them, but I'll wait 'til hell freezes over if necessary." -Susan Foster

[Footnote]

*Patients' names have been changed.