SALT LAKE CITY – Doctors at Intermountain Healthcare announced new guidelines for mammograms on Tuesday, in response to a surprising new side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine.
They say that women who recently received the COVID-19 vaccine may have to postpone their annual mammogram.
“When someone gets vaccinated, an inflammatory response occurs in the arm,” said Dr. Brett Parkinson, medical director of the Breast Treatment Center at Intermountain Healthcare.
READ: Utah women urged not to postpone mammograms during pandemic
In the past four weeks, doctors have observed swollen lymph nodes on screening mammograms of women who have recently been vaccinated.
“Whenever we see this on a normal screening mammogram, we call these patients back because it can mean metastatic breast cancer that travels to the lymph nodes or lymphoma or leukemia.”
Although inflammation is the body’s normal response to a vaccine, Dr. Parkinson says it is surprising how many swollen lymph nodes they have seen.
“With the Modern vaccine it is about 11% after the first dose and 16% after the second dose. We believe it is comparable to the Pfizer vaccine as well. “
In response, Intermountain launched new guidelines according to the Society of Breast Imaging.
Women should have a mammogram before the first dose of the vaccine or wait four weeks after the second dose of the vaccine.
“We don’t want these patients to receive a false positive to have this type of alarm,” said Parkinson.
If there are worrying symptoms, such as a suspicious lump, Dr. Parkinson says it won’t be long before you have a mammogram.
READ: Early detection is critical in the fight against breast cancer
“Breast cancer kills women between 40 and 50,000 a year. Many of these deaths are unnecessary, ”said Parkinson. “I know that screening mammograms are the only test that has been shown in the past 30 to 40 years to decrease the breast cancer mortality rate.”
If you have the opportunity to get the vaccine, Dr. Parkinson recommends that you get it because consultations are limited. He adds that postponing a mammogram for a month or two will not have as much impact.