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Breast implants are the third most common type of plastic surgery performed in the United States.
Breast implants do not cause cancer, but they may make it harder to spot.
Like millions of other women, this woman has breast implants. Every year over 200-thousand women have breast augmentation.... a procedure that can affect the accuracy of mammography.
Dr. Diana L. Miglioretti, Ph.D./ Center for Health Studies, Group Health Cooperative: "We found that breast implants interfere with the detection of breast cancer."
Implants cast shadows on mammograms, blocking some areas of the picture. Implant displacement views can help but it's still not perfect.
Dr. Diana L. Miglioretti: "These views attempt to move the implant out of the way to maximize the amount of breast tissue that they can see on the mammogram film."
As reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers compared results from over a million women-- with and without implants-- who had mammograms between 1995 and 2002.
Dr. Diana L. Miglioretti: "Screening mommography missed 55 percent of breast cancers in women with breast implants, compared to only 37 percent of breast cancers in women without implants."
We've known for years that implants affect the accuracy of mammography. The real surprise of the study was that having implants did not delay the diagnosis of cancer or affect the outcome.
Dr. Diana L. Miglioretti: "Even though screening mammography does not detect breast cancer as well in women with implants, this does not appear to result in more advanced cancers. Women with breast implants were diagnosed with cancers of similar stage and size as women without breast implants."
One possible explanation is that women who have implants are encouraged to check their breasts regularly to look for any problems with the implants. So that could make it easier for them to spot a tumor themselves.
