Research In Brief

Patients with metal-on-metal hip replacements are no more likely to develop cancer in the first seven years after surgery than with other hip replacement bearings, finds a new analysis from the large National Joint Registry of England and Wales. Researchers also found some evidence that patients who underwent metal-on-metal resurfacing procedures were less likely to get a cancer diagnosis than those with alternative bearings. Overall, the rate of new cancer diagnosis was lower than the predicted national incidence rate for the general population in the United Kingdom.

The analysis was based on outcomes from 40,576 patients with metal-on-metal total hip replacements or resurfacing and 248,995 patients implanted with alternative-bearing hips. The metal-on-metal devices are known to release...