Anyone who gets a mammogram or other cancer check shortly after a COVID-19 vaccine should warn doctors to avoid false alarms due to an adverse reaction
Getting a Mammogram or Other Cancer Control Shortly After a COVID-19 Vaccination? Be sure to tell the doctor about the injection to avoid false alarms about a temporary side effect.
That’s the advice of cancer experts and radiologists. Sometimes lymph nodes, especially in the armpit, swell after vaccinations. It’s a normal immune system response, but one that can be mistaken for cancer if shown on a mammogram or other scan.
“We need to make it known,” said Dr. Melissa Chen, a radiologist at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who recently had to reassure a frightened patient seeking a cancer test because of an enlarged lymph node.
An expert panel from three cancer centers – MD Anderson, Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, and Dana-Farber in Boston – published recommendations last week in the journal Radiology on how to deal with scans complicated by the side effect.
The main message: “This should not deter patients from getting the vaccine,” emphasized Chen, one of the co-authors.
Lymph nodes are part of the immune system where infection-fighting white blood cells collect, spots that are usually too small to feel. But they can swell during illness and after other types of vaccines. And with the anticipated jump in COVID-19 vaccinations, doctors should prepare to see massive amounts of imaging studies – including chest CTs, PET scans, and mammograms – that show swollen lymph nodes, following similar recommendations in the Journal of the American College of Radiology this week.
The nodes most affected are in the armpit and by the collarbone, on the same side as the vaccination, Chen said.
The Food and Drug Administration lists the swelling, along with other injection-related reactions commonly reported in studies of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, although not the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
It’s not clear how often it happens. The FDA found that 16% of the Moderna study participants reported some underarm swelling after their second dose. But if the lymph nodes are only slightly enlarged, they can show up on a medical scan without people noticing bumps.
Consumer advice is still evolving. What Experts Agree On: If you’ve recently been vaccinated, tell the radiologist before taking a scan. That will help them assess whether an enlarged lymph node is likely to be vaccine-related and can be easily checked, or whether it is worrisome enough for a biopsy or another test.
And try to schedule an upcoming screening or other cancer-related scan before vaccination if possible without losing your place in the vaccine line, the Radiology panel said.
People with active cancer on one side of the body can choose vaccination on the other to minimize confusion.
Don’t delay urgent exams, radiologists emphasize. But there is some disagreement about non-urgent scans. The Radiology panel said it was considering scheduling purely routine screenings six weeks after vaccination. In contrast, the Massachusetts General Hospital recommendations insist on dealing with the side effect with good communication rather than delayed screening.
The Associated Press Department of Health and Science is supported by the Science Education Department of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The AP is solely responsible for all content.