The disease is anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, a rare cancer of the immune system. It is not breast cancer, but develops in tissue around the implant. In most cases, removing the implant and the scar tissue around it cures the cancer, but if it is not detected early it can spread and kill the patient. The condition has occurred with implants placed for cosmetic breast enlargement and with those used for reconstruction after mastectomy for breast cancer. The F.D.A. first recognized the link to breast implants in 2011.

The lymphoma is rare, given that millions of women have breast implants. Breast enlargement is the most popular type of plastic surgery in the United States, with more than 300,000 operations performed in 2017, a 3 percent increase over 2016, according to the most recent data from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. About 100,000 other women received implants in 2017 during reconstructive surgery after mastectomy for breast cancer in the United States.

Despite the low incidence of the lymphoma, the F.D.A. said in a safety communication for patients that “at the present time, we believe all individuals who are considering a breast implant of any type be informed of the risk of developing” the disease.

The Biocell textured implants carry a risk that is about six times that of other textured implants sold in the United States, the agency said. Hundreds of thousands of women in the United States have Biocell implants, Dr. Binita Ashar, director of the F.D.A.’s Office of Surgical and Infection Control Devices, said at a news briefing on Wednesday about the recall.

The main symptoms of the lymphoma are usually swelling and fluid accumulation around the implant. If those symptoms occur, the fluid should be drained and tested for the cancer.