Diagnosing breast cancer in women with implants

9 19 am

Diagnosing breast cancer in women with implants
7/7/2007 1:43 PM
By: Marcie Fraser



Each year, more and more women are getting breast implants. Do
implants obscure breast cancer tumors? It certainly is something to
consider. Are you thinking about getting breast implants? Should a
woman with a family history of breast cancer get them?

"I think it is something they should probably think about, and weigh
the risks of the breast cancer and the cosmetic appeal of putting in
implants," radiologist Dr. Andrew Warheit said.



WATCH THE VIDEO



Diagnosing breast cancer in women with implants

Do breast implants hinder the diagnosis of breast cancer or tumors?
Marcie Fraser finds out how implants affect mammographies.



Note from Ilena Rosenthal & The Humantics Foundation:

We have had many conversations with women who have had as many as 5
tumors hidden behind their implants that mammography did not find.

http://breastimplantawareness.blogspot.com
www.BreastImplantawarenessAwareness.org/


http://news10now.com/shared/video/vi...destlist=65247


Implants may reduce the sensitivity of finding a lump.

"The ability to detect or find a breast cancer in a patient who has
implants is slightly more difficult than in a woman who did not have
implants. The implant would lower the sensitivity of the study and
finding that cancer," Dr. Warheit said.

Dr. Andrew Warheit says that implants lower the sensitively rate of
the mammogram by very little—less than 20 percent. Where the implants
are placed can make a difference.

"When the implant is placed in front of the muscle, it makes it a
little bit more difficult to position the patient for a mammogram
versus if it was placed behind the muscle," Dr. Warheit said.

Mammography is the first choice for screening the breast for cancer or
tumors. Imaging the breast with implants requires precise detail in
moving the implant,. Rupturing them is very rare.

"The implant is going to obscure some of the more posterior tissue
within the breast. If there is any clinical concern for this area, or
you are really uncomfortable of the evaluation, the next way of
looking at the breast is an MR," Dr. Warheit said.

The MR, or magnetic resonance imaging, is very thorough when compared
to an ultrasound.

"Ultrasound is very limited in evaluating implants themselves. There
are certain signs on ultrasounds for a rupture. You can see tissue
around the implant, but it is not a first line method to look at the
breast with an implant," Dr. Warheit said.

Some women with implants don't perform self breast exams. It's very
important that all women perform them monthly.

"A woman is going to know her breast better than anybody else, and she
is going to know if there is any change in her breast with the breast
in place," Dr. Warheit said.