Cancer researchers and radiologists in the United States warn Covid-19 vaccine recipients that an otherwise normal immune response to cancer may be incorrect if it appears on a mammogram or other cancer screening.
Before major outbreaks of infections and unwanted invaders, some of the host, the white blood cells, accumulate in the lymph nodes. However, lymph nodes, especially in the armpit, can swell after vaccinations with Covid-19.
As cancer research continues in parallel with vaccinations around the world, a scan done shortly after vaccination can yield false positives and cause unnecessary stress during a difficult time.
“It should not prevent patients from getting the vaccine,” says Dr. Melissa Chen, a radiologist at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
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Chen and colleagues from Anderson, MD, Sloan Kettering in New York and Dana-Farber, Boston, formed a panel to sound the alarm about the possibility of false positive reactions amid the vaccination.
The panel warned medical experts to prepare unusually “Large volumes” chest computed tomography (CT) scans, positron emission tomography (PET) scans and mammograms showing swollen lymph nodes while vaccination continues.
The lymph nodes most affected are located near the armpit and collarbone on the side where patients receive their vaccination.
The extent to which this swelling occurs is not fully understood, and it has been reported in studies on recipients of the Pfizer / BioNtech and Moderna vaccines, but not on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
The clear advice is that patients should tell their radiologist that they have been vaccinated before the scandals, so that any swelling in the lymph nodes does not necessarily result in misdiagnosis or cause unnecessary, expensive and potentially invasive procedures.
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