Cancer specialists and radiologists in the United States are warning recipients of the Covid-19 vaccine that a normal immune response can be mistaken for cancer if it appears on a mammogram or other cancer test.
Before major offensives against infections and unwanted invaders, some of the body’s defense forces, white blood cells, gather in the lymph nodes. However, lymph nodes, especially in the armpits, may swell after vaccination with Covid-19.
Because cancer screening continues in parallel with vaccination efforts worldwide, an examination performed shortly after vaccination can result in a false positive and cause unnecessary stress during an already challenging period.
“This should not prevent patients from receiving the vaccine”, says Dr. Melissa Chen, a radiologist at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
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Chen and colleagues at MD Anderson, Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York and Dana-Farber in Boston formed a panel to warn of the potential for false positives in the midst of the vaccine’s release.
The panel warned medical experts to prepare for unusual situations “Large volumes” chest computed tomography (CT) scans, positron emission tomography (PET) scans and mammograms showing swollen lymph nodes as vaccination continues.
The most commonly affected lymph nodes are located near the armpit and clavicle, on the side where patients receive the vaccine.
The extent to which this swelling occurs is not fully understood and has been reported in studies with recipients of the Pfizer / BioNtech and Moderna vaccines, but not the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The resounding advice is that patients tell the radiologist that they were vaccinated before an exam, so that any swelling in the lymph nodes does not necessarily result in an incorrect diagnosis or trigger unnecessary, expensive and potentially invasive procedures.
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