Implants may interfere with mammogram results

X-Ray Mammograms Missed 55 Percent Of Breast Cancer Cases In Women With Breast Implants

IMS Observations    
If you have breast implants, we encourage you to learn more about Infrared Mammography and employ it as part of your breast health program.  Infrared Mammography’s accuracy, unlike X-Ray Mammography, is not affected by the presence of breast implants.  Because Infrared Mammography is screening for metabolic changes that cancer exhibits rather that density differences in breast tissue, a breast implant does not affect the ability of Infrared Mammography to detect breast cancer. 


Reuters Health - January 27, 2004
Breast implants make it harder to detect breast cancer with a mammogram, new study findings suggest.

But even though mammography is less accurate in women with breast implants, this does not mean that women with implants are at greater risk of being diagnosed with more advanced cancer, researchers say. In fact, tumors were of similar size and stage in women with and without implants.

The bottom line for women with breast implants is that they should continue to have mammograms as recommended but should be aware that mammography is less sensitive for them, lead author Dr. Diana L. Miglioretti of the Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, Washington, told Reuters Health.

She advised women to let the mammography staff know that they have implants so that they can undergo additional screening using a technique called implant displacement views, which shifts the implant out of the way to provide a better view of breast tissue.

Women with implants, along with other women, should be sure to contact a physician if they detect a lump or other problem with their breasts, Miglioretti stressed.

The radiation used in mammography is blocked to some degree by breast implants, so there has been concern that implants may interfere with the ability to detect breast cancer. The scientific evidence has not been conclusive, however.


One problem is that many studies were conducted before mammograms were used widely and before radiologists began using implant displacement views.

In the new study, Miglioretti's team analyzed data from seven U.S. mammogram registries. The researchers examined the accuracy of mammograms in women with breast cancer - 141 women with implants and more than 20,000 without them - as well as in women without breast cancer - more than 10,000 women with implants and over 101,000 without implants.

Among women who did not have symptoms of breast cancer at the time of a mammogram, the screen missed 55 percent of breast cancer cases in women with breast implants compared with 33 percent of women who did not have the implants, the researchers report in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

But women with breast implants were slightly less likely to receive false-positive mammogram results than women without implants.

Moreover, even though women with implants were less likely to have their breast cancer show up on a mammogram, on average they were not diagnosed with more advanced cancer than women without implants.

In fact, among women who were diagnosed with breast cancer after experiencing symptoms, such as a lump or discharge from the nipple, women with implants tended to be diagnosed with less advanced cancer.

It may be easier for women with implants to detect cancers that are missed on a mammogram, according to Miglioretti. They often have less of their own breast tissue, she noted, or it could be that the implant provides a firm surface to press breast tissue against.

Also, women with implants may be more likely to detect lumps in their breasts if they check their breasts often for signs of trouble with an implant or if they are more body conscious than other women, according to Miglioretti.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, January 28, 2004.


Source Link    
http://www.mombu.com/medicine/cancer/t-reuters-implants-may-interfere-with-mammogram-results-2565827.html