Do you get a mammogram or other cancer quickly after a COVID-19 vaccination? Tell the doctor about the shot to prevent false alarms due to a temporary side effect.
This is the advice of oncologists and radiologists. Sometimes lymph nodes, especially in the armpit, swell after the vaccinations. It is a normal response by the immune system, but responds to cancer when it appears on a mammogram or other scan.
“We need to hear the word,” said Dr. Melissa Chen, a radiologist at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who recently had to reassure a frightened patient who had undergone cancer research due to an enlarged lymph node.
An expert panel of three cancer centers – MD Anderson, the memorial Sloan Kettering in New York and Dana-Farber, Boston – last week published recommendations in the journal Radiology on how to deal with scans complicated by the side effect.
The main message: “It should not prevent patients from getting the vaccine,” emphasizes Chen, one of the co-authors.
Lymph nodes are part of the immune system where infection-fighting white blood cells accumulate, patches usually too small to feel. But they can swell during illness and after other types of vaccinations. And with the expected jump in COVID-19 vaccinations, doctors need to “prepare to see large amounts” of imaging tests – including chest CT scans, PET scans and mammograms – showing swollen lymph nodes, according to similar recommendations in the Journal of the American College of Radiology this week.
The knots most affected are in the armpit and near the collarbone, on the same side as the vaccination, Chen said.
The Food and Drug Administration lists the swelling, along with other injection-related reactions commonly reported in studies on the Pfizer and Modern vaccines, although not for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
It is not clear how often this happens. The FDA found that 16% of participants in the Moderna study reported some forearm swelling after their second dose. But if the lymph nodes are only slightly enlarged, it can appear on a medical scan without people noticing any bumps.
The consumer advice is still evolving. Where experts agree: If you have been recently vaccinated, tell your radiologist before examining. This will help them determine if an enlarged lymph node is likely to be vaccine-related and can simply be monitored, or if it is of sufficient concern for a biopsy or other test.
And try to plan an upcoming screening or other cancer-related scan before vaccination if possible without losing your place in the vaccine line, the Radiology panel said.
People with active cancer on the one hand on the one hand can choose vaccination on the other hand to reduce confusion.
Do not postpone urgent exams, stresses radiologists. But there is disagreement over non-urgent scans. According to the Radiology panel, purely routine examinations should be scheduled six weeks after vaccination. In contrast, Massachusetts General Hospital recommendations address the side effect with good communication rather than with delayed screening.
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