Breast Implants: Can delay the detection of cancer?

According to experts, women with breast implants have up to 26% more likely that, in case of developing cancer, this is diagnosed at a later stage. The reason, according to the researchers, is that breast implants can create shadows that obscure mammograms in breast tissue areas. Early detection is an essential tool for the treatment of this cancer. But it is not the only reason why the implants have returned to capture the attention of researchers.

Breast implants can delay cancer screening. It is one of the conclusions of the investigation, whose results were published in the British Medical Journal, which has carried out a team of Canadian scientists and to have analyzed twelve other studies since 1993.

But it is not the only risk that could lead to breast implants if, as the authors themselves point out, confirmed the conclusions drawn. And, although cautious, pointing to breast implants as a possible risk factor for increased presence of disseminated tumors. A risk, the researchers add, seems to be higher among women with cosmetic implants.

The first targeted risk refers to diagnosis in the case of a potential tumor. According to researchers, women with breast implants may have up to 26% more likely to detect it at a late stage. Late diagnosis may worsen the prognosis and reduce the chances of successful treatment. This delay in diagnosis may partly explain another of the data from this new study is that women with implants and diagnosed with cancer appear to have a 38% higher risk of not surviving the tumor, compared to women without implants.

How do they influence the implants in the diagnosis? The answer can be in that screen, creating blurred or shaded areas on the mammogram, the test considered most effective for the detection of breast cancer.

The authors of this new study emphasize the importance of further research to reach a definitive conclusion about the relationship between implants and breast cancer, not appearance factor, but obstacle to early detection and, therefore, in their treatment. In other words, the researchers are appealing to look beyond the numbers drawn and to focus on the message that if we could be alerting these results, and is that the implants can hinder the early treatment of breast cancer.

It’s not the first time that the implants to increase breast size capture the attention of researchers. The specialists advise women with implants carried out a review of ten years of operation in order to check if the prosthesis is maintained in good condition or there has been some tear.

It’s been long due that we should raise widespread and organized breast cancer awareness. Awareness about the breast cancer risk factors, e.g., obesity, excess alcohol consumption, lack of physical exercise, and various hormone replacement therapy is a good place to start.