Patients have swollen lymph nodes, a rare sign of breast cancer.
“When we see this, we get excited and worried,” said Dr. Lars Grimm of Duke Health.
Doctors are now learning that this is caused by women who recently received the COVID-19 vaccine.
The lymph nodes will become swollen on the side of the body where the person received the injection.
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“This is a good thing, right, because it means the vaccine is working. Your body is responding. You are having that immune reaction,” said Grimm.
The side effect, however, is that these lumps will appear on a mammogram and give a false reading for breast cancer.
Grimm says women just need to do some planning.
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Have a mammogram before the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine or four to six weeks after the second injection.
Grimm says the recommended schedule is the same, regardless of whether you get the Moderna or Pzifer vaccine.
The last thing doctors want is for women to cancel their mammograms all together, which often happened in 2020.
“We are concerned about women who are going to skip two years and we know that when we get tested regularly, we get breast cancer as early as possible. Unfortunately, breast cancer is so common that it is very important for women to be aware of them. Things maintaining health and don’t let it slip away, “said Grimm.
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The American Cancer Society suggests that women aged 45 to 54 should be screened annually. Women aged 55 and over, in good health, can change every two years.
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