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Updated: Feb 17, 2026
Laparoscopic Repair of Para-Esophageal Hernia Using Absorbable Biosynthetic Mesh
Published on: September 11, 2021
No increased risk of carcinogenesis with mesh-based hernia repairs
Bilal Chughtai1, Art Sedrakyan2, Dominique Thomas1
1Department of Urology, Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian, New York, NY 10065, USA.
Background:
The use of synthetic mesh has been placed under considerable scrutiny. We sought to evaluate whether there is a link between placement of synthetic polypropylene mesh for hernia repair and a subsequent cancer diagnosis.
Methods:
Adult men undergoing mesh-based hernia repair from January 2008-December 2009 in New York State were identified and followed through December 2014. Control cohorts of men undergoing cholecystectomy and total knee replacement were control cohorts.
Results:
1894 patients undergoing hernia repair, 912 patients in the cholecystectomy control cohort, and 1099 in the TKA control cohort with a cancer diagnosis. In the matched analyses of mesh-based hernia repair and cholecystectomy patients 6.5% vs. 7.1% developed cancer. In the matched analysis of hernia patients and TKA patients, 9.3% vs. 9.1% developed cancer. No association between mesh-based hernia surgery and increased risk of cancer was found.
Conclusions:
Mesh-based hernia repair was not associated with an increased risk of subsequent development of cancer in men.
