A new Swedish study has found that silicone breast implants do not increase women’s risks of breast cancer.

The industry-funded study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, is significant because of its large size and longevity. The study followed almost 3,500 women for a period of 37 years.

In the study, American researchers evaluated data on 3,486 Swedish women who got silicone breast implants for cosmetic purposes between 1965 and 1993. The study followed the women until 2002, an average of almost 19 years after the women received breast implants.

According to the results of the study, only 53 of the women were diagnosed with breast cancer, compared to 71.9 cases that were expected to develop breast cancer in the general population. There were a total of 180 cancers in women who had silicone breast implants, which was fewer than the 193.1 that was expected.

“Women with silicone breast implants should feel reassured,” said Joseph McLaughlin, study author and president of the International Epidemiology Institute, in Rockville, Md.

Silicone breast implants have long been the focus of controversy and were banned in the United States in 1992 for the use of cosmetic surgeries after concerns that leaks would spur on a number of diseases including immune system disorders and cancer.

There have been some studies including the most recent one, which have found no evidence that silicone leakage could cause systemic diseases. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration have been leaning towards allowing silicone implants to be available on the market as an alternative to saline implants, which aren’t always the best choice.

President-elect of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Dr. Roxanne Guy, said she expects the FDA to announce their final decision regarding silicone breast implants later this year.

Guys said that in some cases, silicone implants are a better choice than saline implants, particularly if breast tissue is too thin to support the saline implant as efficiently. “There are many patients in which nothing is going to work as well as a silicone implant,” she said.