Q&A: Should COVID vaccinated patients delay getting breast imaging — new study says no 

Don't delay mammograms after COVID vaccine. Women do not need to delay their mammogram appointment after COVID-19 vaccination. A new study suggests not delaying mammograms due to getting a COVID vaccine because cancers may go un detected. The RSNA study showed several examples of swollen lymph nodes that appeared to be from the vaccine, but turned out to be cancers. Women should not delay getting mammograms after COVID vaccines. Do not delay getting a mammogram with the COVID Vaccine.

An example from the study of a 60-year-old woman presented for screening mammography nine weeks after receiving her second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. (A) Mediolateral oblique view of the left breast demonstrates an irregular mass in the superior left breast (dash arrow) and a dense lymph node in the left axilla that is incompletely visualized (arrow). Sonography demonstrates (B) an irregular hypoechoic mass in the breast (arrow) that corresponded to the mammographic finding and (C) a lymph node with eccentric cortical thickening measuring 6 mm (arrow) in the axilla. Biopsy of the mass yielded invasive ductal carcinoma and biopsy of the lymph node yielded metastatic carcinoma. Image courtesy of RSNA

The lead authors of a new study, Stacey Wolfson, MD, and Beatriu Reig, MD, from the Department of Radiology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, say women should not delay breast imaging if they recently received the COVID vaccine or a booster.